Expecting
by ICantBelieveImNotButter
Summary: 3rd in 'Coloured Lights' --- Dean and Sam's lives have always been a little difficult, and now with Dean's pregnant girlfriend thrown into the mix, life is about to get a lot more interesting for the Winchester brothers.
1. Coming To Terms

**Category - **Series  
**Rating -** M  
**Setting -** AU reality  
**Characters/Pairings -** Dean, Sam, OFC, John, Bobby, Dean/OFC  
**Spoilers -** Seasons 1 - 3  
**Summary -** Dean and Sam's lives have always been a little difficult, and now with Dean's pregnant girlfriend thrown into the mix, life is about to get a lot more interesting for the Winchester brothers.  
**Notes - **Third installment of the 'Colored lights' series. Please read the first two stories 'How Life Should Be' and 'Connection'. I have added in some of my favorite storylines from seasons 2 and 3, and added a twist to them. However these are not in the same order as they are in the show but I think it works. I've tried to put some more, um, smut in this story so some chapters will have a higher rating that others, but I will let you know at the start of these chapters. ENJOY!  
**Disclaimer -** All things relating to the Supernatural series it the property of Eric Kripke. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

**EXPECTING**

CHAPTER ONE - COMING TO TERMS

Dean heard Sam shout but refused to open his eyes, or loosen his hold on Pepper. He wanted to get his head around the situation properly before he dealt with his brother, father and of course Bobby. For the moment though all Dean could do was try to make Pepper comfortable. He'd always felt like that, as if he needed to protect her even though she was one of the strongest women he had ever known. Dean sighed when he could hear the others moving closer to the Impala.

Well, the peace they received by being alone was nice while it lasted. Dean cracked open one eye and looked out of the window confirming that it was his Father, Bobby and Sam who were coming towards them and not some old pervert or young car jacker. Sighing once more, Dean opened his other eye and turned away from the window to look down at Pepper. He gently nudged her until she lifted her head up and opened her eyes.

"I think they may have noticed that we're no longer in the room." He joked with a forced smile on his lips as he tilted his head to the window.

Pepper leaned forward just slightly so that she could see past Dean's shoulders. She took in the three men heading their way and let out a long shaky breath. If Dean could, he would start the Impala and drive away, but then that would not help the situation. Besides, the added stress probably wouldn't be good for Pepper. See there he goes wanting to protect her again.

Dean cleared his throat and wound down his window when the others were close enough. He did not miss the fire of anger that still shone in Bobby's eyes, or the look of confusion mixed with shock in Sam's. John's expression and eyes were a lot harder to read to Dean. He did not look angry like Bobby, or confused like Sam. He looked...Well, Dean really wasn't sure and it really was not what he wanted to be thinking about right now.

Bobby moved a step closer and bent down just slightly so that he could get a look at Pepper.

"I think we should talk." He told her.

"Are we all done with the yelling and the physical violence?" Dean asked, trying to keep his voice calm and steady.

Bobby shot a glare towards Dean. He opened his mouth to say something, most likely some more threats towards Dean, when Pepper leaned forward and spoke cutting him off.

"Okay," She said quietly but quickly. "But...can we talk at home?"

Bobby nodded his head and stood up straight. Pepper sighed before getting out of the passenger side of the car. Bobby and John stepped back so that Dean could get out as well. All the while Bobby was sending just a hint of a glare towards Dean.

"Um," Pepper began, looking from Dean to Bobby and noticing the looks Bobby was giving Dean. "Granddad, I meant that we should all go and talk."

"What?" Bobby demanded, his gaze immediately finding hers.

"Please." She pleaded.

John watched Bobby and could tell that the older man wanted to protest this but instead he kept his mouth shut, most likely because he didn't want to upset his granddaughter or maybe he knew there would be no point in arguing.

A long silence stretched out in the group until after several minutes, Bobby spoke.

"I'll meet you back at the house." He told Pepper, before making his way over to his truck.

John looked intently at his eldest son and tried to get a feeling of what was going on inside of his head. While John had kind of planned for this to happen, and he knew that Dean would be a great father, he didn't know if this was something that Dean would immediately be in to or something that he'd have to get used to. Although the fact that he seemed to be possessive about Pepper gave a little hint.

Finally, John sighed. "I guess I'll see you when at Bobby's then." He turned and was about to head to his own truck when Sam's voice stopped him.

"You're gonna stay?" asked Sam.

John turned around very surprised by this. He was sure that his son's would know that with something this, huge, that he would stick around and be apart of it. Sure he had missed on so many things (too many to think about) but this was a baby! He would definitely be sticking around.

"For this, yeah." John replied simply before turning back around.

Sam nodded. He, Dean and Pepper waited until John had driven down the road after Bobby before any of them even moved let alone speak. Sam looked at the people in front of him and saw that they were just as shocked at this news as he was, probably even mores so.

"So, ah, we better grab our stuff." Sam suggested

Dean nodded and turned around to Pepper. "Do you want us to give you a ride?" He asked.

"No." She shook her head slowly, "I drove my car here, so I should probably drive it back."

"You sure?"

Again, she nodded. Dean was still for a moment before he turned back to Sam and said, "Okay, come on, Sam."

Dean and Sam headed back to the motel room to get what little stuff they had in there. Sam was beginning to feel uncomfortable in the awkward silence that had engulfed them. He had so many questions that he wanted to ask Dean but he knew that he wouldn't get any answers, at least not now anyway.

By the time they finished, Pepper had already left and the sun was just setting. Everyone had been so wrapped up in what was going on that none of them noticed the time. Sam slipped quietly into the passenger seat after throwing his stuff in the trunk and waited for Dean. Dean got in and started the car with out a word.

"Dean?" Sam tried when they were on the road.

"Sam, just..." Dean snapped. He sighed and softened adding, "Just leave it, for now. Okay?"

Sam nodded and turned to look out the window.

* * *

The Impala pulled up outside of Bobby's house, next to John's truck and Pepper's car. It was now dark outside yet the moon and the stars gave off enough light so that Dean could see Pepper leaning against her car. He didn't know how long she had been waiting out here as he walked towards her. Sam slowly followed him but didn't get too close.

"Hey. Dad and Bobby inside?" Dean asked.

"Looks like it." Pepper nodded.

"Are you ready to go in?" He carefully asked her.

She let out a short breath, "guess I have to be don't I."

Dean gave a short nod before allowing her to lead the way up the stairs and to the front door.

Inside, Bobby and John were waiting for them in the living room. Both men standing on opposite sides of the room and it was clear that not one word had been spoken between them this whole time. No one looked ready for this conversation yet everyone knew that it could not be avoided.

"Um," Pepper began, biting her lower lip slightly.

"I'd really rather talk to you alone, Pepper." Bobby said tightly. "Afterwards Dean and--"

"--No, I..." Pepper sighed, "I'd rather have Dean here. If, if he wants to."

She turned to Dean, who smiled slightly and nodded. "I'll stay."

She needed him and Dean wasn't about to turn his back on her. He'd never seen her like this before. Bobby wasn't happy about this but kept his mouth shut.

"We'll go and wait outside." John suggested, "Come on Sam."

Sam quickly followed his father outside wanting to leave the house and the conversation that was about to take place there as soon as possible.

* * *

Outside, Sam moved and sat down on the porch steps while John remained standing at the bottom, leaning against the porch. Neither of them said anything because they didn't know what to say and each had too many thoughts running through their head to voice any of them.

John realized that he should have considered everyone else involved when he had thought about how great it would be to see that little granddaughter from his dream. Because really he had only thought of himself and Dean, or at least the Dean in the dream. Once he had found out that Pepper was Bobby's granddaughter, John should have thought about this scenario. He couldn't blame Bobby for being royally pissed at Dean, heck if it were John in Bobby's position he would be acting the same way.

John wished that he could just skip forward in time to when the baby was born. Just from the short dream he had had he knew that the baby would be able to melt all of their hearts. He tilted his head towards the house hoping to be able to catch a bit of what was being said inside but failed.

Sam leaned forward and placed his chin in his hands. He was trying to get his head around this. His brother was going to be a father, with Bobby's granddaughter...it just didn't seem real and Sam couldn't see a way that they'd be able to get used to it. He doubted that Dean would simply drop everything and become your typical husband and father with a steady job and a white picket fence. Then again, he really had no clue what Dean was going to do.

This was going to be a very long night.

* * *

"You wanted to talk, so, talk" Pepper said, as she prepared herself for what her grandfather might say.

By this point, the three of them had moved a little closer to the middle of the room, none of them feeling comfortable enough to sit down. Pepper stood with her arms folded protectively over her stomach and Dean stood just behind her and off to the side. He knew that while she wanted him there with her this was a conversation mostly for herself and Bobby.

"Alright." said Bobby. He took a deep breath and mentally tried to prepare what he wanted to say but after a moment, it didn't matter. "I just don't know how you two could be so stupid." Bobby blurted out.

"It's not like we planned for this to happen." Said Pepper. She paused, her eyes closed briefly and she sighed. When she opened her eyes again she looked back at Bobby. "Look, I know that we didn't really make the best choice here."

Bobby quickly turned on Dean. His face setting in anger once more. "I knew I should have kept you away from her right from the start. You may be a good hunter boy, but you're still like every other man out there who just wants a quick--"

"--It's not like that!" Dean snapped, interrupting Bobby.

Did Bobby really think that little of Dean, that he believed that Dean would use Pepper just for sex? Sure Dean had done this with some of the women he had met but he would never ever do it to Pepper.

"Anyway, Granddad, what could you have done?" Pepper asked. "Either way Dean and I probably would have been together regardless."

"You're a smart girl, Pepper." said Bobby, turning back to look at her. His eyes softened and Dean was glad that at least Bobby was directing all of his anger at him and not Pepper. "You should have known better." added Bobby.

"I know." Pepper agreed softly. She dropped her head and looked down at her feet.

Dean frowned as he watched her. She shouldn't need to feel like she should apologize to Bobby over something that really wasn't her fault (well it was but she still shouldn't apologize to Bobby for it).

"God," Bobby sighted suddenly in frustration. He ran a hand through his hair roughly. "I'm just so disappointed. I promised your mother when she died that I would look after you, and I let...this happen."

Pepper's head shot up and she looked at Bobby in disbelief.

"I can take care of myself" She snapped.

"Obviously you can't!" Bobby shouted.

"Look, this wont be as bad as you're making it out to be, Granddad. Yes it's going to be difficult for everyone involved but it's not like it's the end of the world." Pepper pointed out passionately. "I mean, Mum was only a few years older than I am now when she had me."

"Yes, but I didn't want you to ruin your life like that!"

Pepper's face immediately fell. Her mouth open slightly and her eyes grew wide with shock as she tried to blink away her tears which fell silently one by one down her cheeks.

Bobby looked at her and took in the full impact of his words. He felt like he had been stabbed in the gut as he watched his granddaughter cry because of him. While he was speaking, he hadn't realized what he was saying and once he did, he had already spoken and couldn't take it back.

"Are you..." Pepper paused and swallowed the lump forming in her throat. "Are you saying that I ruined my mother's life just by being born?" She asked her voice strained with emotion.

Dean watched Pepper helplessly. He never liked seeing women cry and he really didn't like seeing Pepper cry, especially if it meant that she was hurting in some way and by the look in her eye, Dean could tell that she was deeply hurt by what Bobby had said. Dean knew that he should say something but he couldn't find the right words. Apparently neither could Bobby, who was standing their speechless.

"Pepper, I...." Bobby tried but found that there was no way he could apologize enough for what he had said.

Pepper shook her head, turned and walked past Dean and out the door.

"Pepper?" Dean called after her but his only answer was the closing of the front door.

Dean stood silently and stared after her. He knew that he should go after her and see if she was all right but he couldn't just let Bobby get away with that without saying something. He spun around angrily towards Bobby, shooting a dangerous glare towards the older Hunter.

"I didn't mean that." Bobby mumbled mostly to himself.

It was as if he had forgotten that Dean was still in the house. Dean took one look at Bobby and knew that there was nothing he could say that would make Bobby feel any worse then how he was already feeling. Yet this didn't stop Dean from lashing out.

"Yeah, well you shouldn't have said it then, now should you?" Dean snapped.

"Don't use that tone with me." said Bobby, his anger taking over again. "You're still responsible for this. You got her pregnant. She wouldn't be in this mess if you hadn't hurt her."

"My god, Bobby!" Dean shouted angrily. He'd had enough by this point and no longer cared what Bobby would say or even do to him.

"What?" Demanded Bobby.

"You are such a hypocrite. You keep going on about how I've hurt Pepper, but in all the years that I've known her, I've never made her cry like that."

With that, Dean turned and stomped out the door leaving Bobby standing still, too shocked to say or do anything else.

* * *

As Dean stepped outside, he immediately noticed that Pepper's car was gone, which was not a good sign. He then saw his father and brother staring at him from the bottom of the porch stairs. Obviously, they had heard the last bit of yelling that had occurred between himself and Bobby, but Dean didn't know if they had heard what Bobby had said to Pepper.

"Dean, is, is everything okay?" Sam asked timidly, not wanting to get his brother more riled up if he could avoid it.

"Did you two see Pepper?" Dean asked, purposely ignoring his brother's question as he walked down the stairs.

"Yeah, we were standing here when she came out." Sam replied. "She seemed pretty upset-"

"-Of course she's upset!" Dean snapped. He quickly sighed and shook his head, "Sorry, Sam." After all, it wasn't Sam's fault that this was happening. "Do you know where she went?"

"We don't know, she didn't say. She just drove off."

"And you let her?" Dean asked turning on Sam. "If she was obviously upset than why did you let her drive!?"

"We did try to stop her, Dean." said John. "But there was nothing we could have done, or would you have preferred it if we'd tackled her to the ground and forced her to stay?"

"No, sir." Dean nodded. He paused and tried to collect his thoughts. He needed to find Pepper, fast, but he had no idea where to start looking.

"Son, why don't you go look for her." John suggested, bringing Dean out of his thoughts. "She went down that way," he pointed to the left. "I'm sure it wont take you long to find her."

"Right," again Dean just nodded.

"Sam and I will stay here. Maybe Bobby has an address book with numbers of Pepper's friends we can look at."

"Okay. Thanks dad."

John walked towards Dean and placed a strong hand on his shoulder, trying to reassure his son with just that gesture that things would work out. He squeezed Dean's shoulder once before stepping back and heading to the front door.

"Dad?" Dean called out hesitantly.

John had yet to tell Dean how he felt about this and it made Dean nervous not to know. Anything has huge as this was should have made John start yelling the way Bobby had but instead he just seemed eerily calm. Perhaps he was in shock and that was why, well that was the only explanation that Dean could come up with.

John sighed and turned to look at Dean. His hand just above the doorknob. "Just go and find Pepper, Son and we'll talk later."

Dean simply stood still and watched as his father walked into the house. When the door closed again, Dean shook his head and quickly made his way over to the Impala. He tried to ignore Sam, who was following him. He really didn't want Sam tagging along while he searched for Pepper, because when he found her there were things they needed to say to each other that no one, even Sam, should hear.

"Dean, maybe you should just give her some time alone." Sam suggested. "You know, give yourself some time to think as well."

"I can't do that right now."

Dean grabbed the door handle and pulled the drivers side door open, but Sam's hand shot out and grabbed the door from the other side, stopping Dean from opening it further and not leaving enough space for him to slip inside the car. Dean let go of the door and glared up at his brother.

"Come on, Sam. Let go!"

"Dean, you just found out that you're gonna be a father. Do you have any idea what you're going to do?" Sam asked. He needed some kind of answer to all the questions running around in his head. "Don't you think that you should take some time to think about this? I mean this thing changes everything--"

Suddenly, Dean grabbed hold of the door and used all of his strength to pull it from Sam's grasp and slam it shut. He took a menacing step towards Sam, giving him the filthiest look Sam had ever seen.

"It is not a thing, Sammy." Dean hissed angrily. "It's a baby."

Sam stepped back and gawked at his brother. Dean ignored him once again in favor of getting into the Impala and driving off, leaving Sam staring after him, mouth opened, and a bewildered look on his face.

Dean quickly glanced at the side view mirror and took in his brother. He shook his head and redirected his eyes to the road. He couldn't think about his brother right now. He needed to focus on Pepper so that he could find her. Pulling out his cell from his pocket, Dean quickly dialed her number and waited but all he heard was the recorded voice over telling him that the number had been switched off. He muttered a curse under his breath as his own phone gave a low beep signaling that its battery needed to be charged.

He tossed the phone onto the seat beside him and drove a little bit faster

* * *

When John entered the house, he found Bobby sitting on the sofa with his head in his hands. The older Hunter didn't even flinch when he heard the front door open and close. John carefully walked over to him.

"Pepper's taken off somewhere." He said. "Dean's gone to look for her."

Bobby grunted in response to Dean's name. He was still angry with Dean, and well all the Winchesters but at the moment, he was more angry with himself for what he had said to Pepper. He was meant to be the one person in her life that she could always count on no matter what, isn't that what he'd always told her when she was little? Now he didn't know if she would ever talk to him again. Dean was right, he was a hypocrite, and poor Pepper was taking the full hit of everything.

John sighed and looked around the room for a second. He didn't know what he should say.

"I do kind of understand how you feel, you know." John tried, hoping that this would cause another fight between them. He was getting too tired of fighting about this and they'd only known for one night.

"Do you? Really?" Bobby demanded, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Bobby, you're not the only one who's affected by this. Dean is my son and that means that I'm going to be a grandfather, whether I'm ready for it or not." There was a pregnant pause before John continued. "I never thought I'd live to see the day when I'd become a grandparent. This is a shock--"

Bobby scoffed and nodded his head in agreement.

"--But I have faith in Dean." John added. "I don't believe that he would do anything to hurt Pepper. And I think that both of them will be able to make the right decision about this."

'At least I hope they will' John added to himself.

"Do you have any idea where she might have gone?" John asked after several moments of silence. "Is there any place that she might go if she was upset?'

"No." Bobby replied, and then he frowned and sat up straighter. "Hold on, yeah there is."

* * *

Sam was pacing along the front yard of Bobby's house, contemplating on whether or not he should go inside. It was probably better if he didn't. He still needed time to himself to think.

Of all the things that could have happened to them this was defiantly the biggest and threw them all into a tail spin. Sam didn't know what was going to happen but he trusted his brother to know what the right choice. Neither Dean nor Pepper seemed like they would agree to give the baby up and Dean certainly wasn't going to abandon Pepper. Hell, he had always been possessive over her and Sam knew that he would be worse now that Pepper was carrying his child.

Of course, they still had to deal with the Demon and this was only going to make that harder for everyone.

Suddenly, Sam's cell rang and startled him. He quickly pulled it out and answered it without checking the called ID. He was hoping that it would be Dean.

"Hello?"

"Sam, its Ellen."

"Um, hey, Ellen. What's up?" Sam asked, trying to sound calm.

"Is everything alright up there?" She asked. Concern deep in her voice.

"Ah, yeah...why?"

"I've been talking to Pepper," Ellen explained. "She's pretty upset about something and I wanted to make sure that John and Bobby hadn't gotten into another disastrous fight."

"No. So, Pepper hasn't told you what's going on?"

"All she said was that you boy's where at Bobby's."

Sam sighed and tried to think of what he should do. He didn't know if he should go and tell Bobby and John that Pepper was at the RoadHouse or if he should just call Dean. Eventually he decided on the latter because he knew how worried Dean was.

"Um, something's sort of happened but it isn't my place to say." Sam nervously replied. "Is Pepper still there?"

"Yes she's still here. I'm not about to let her drive at this time of night in the state she's in." Ellen paused before demanding firmly, "what the hells going on Sam?"

"Like I said, it isn't my place to say, but, Dean and Pepper really need to talk."

"About what?"

"They just need too. It's between them, Ellen. Dean will be on his way, okay?"

"Alright, Sam. But I will find out what's going on."

"I know. Thanks Ellen."

Sam hung up after that, not wanting to be asked any more questions that he couldn't answer. It wasn't that he didn't trust Ellen, but like he had said, it wasn't his place to tell her anything. That was up to Dean and Pepper. Sam quickly typed a short text to his brother.

'Pepper at RoadHouse'

And pressed send.

* * *

Dean was parked by the side of the road, trying to think of where he should go next. He had been driving for almost an hour with no sign of Pepper's car and was getting frustrated by every passing minute, and the fact that he was trying to keep calm but failing miserably because of how worried he was just wasn't helping. It wasn't just that Pepper was off by herself because Dean knew that she could take care of herself, well normally anyway. However, tonight she was upset and Dean didn't like that she was on her own.

If they'd been at her apartment, he would have had a long list of places to look for her but here he had no idea where she could have gone. His message tone went off and Dean closed his eyes while reaching for his phone. One new message from 'Sam', it read on the screen. Dean sighed and opened the message. Maybe Sam was apologizing for what he had said.

'Pepper at RoadHouse'

Dean smiled and muttered, "Thank you Sammy," before he started the car, did a quick u-turn and headed towards the RoadHouse.

* * *

The RoadHouse was deserted by the time Dean arrived, which was unusual at this time of night. Dean walked in and his eyes immediately scanned the room in search of Pepper. He found her standing by the pool table with a cue in her hand, watching as Jo took a shot. Ash was curled up on a table beside the jukebox snoring lightly, and Ellen was behind the bar keeping a close eye on Dean. Dean didn't care about any of that right now. All he cared about was Pepper, so he made his way over to her.

"Hey," he said as he stepped up beside her.

She turned to him, startled at his presents at first but after a moment, she sighed and relaxed a little. Dean could tell that she had been crying for a long time. Her eyes were red and there were fresh tearstains covering her cheeks. Dean wondered if she had told Ellen and the others about why she was upset, but when he glanced at Ellen he guessed that she probably hadn't seeing as how no one was yelling at him yet.

"Hi." Pepper softly greeted him. "I'm sorry I just took off like that."

"It's okay. Think we could talk?" He asked gently.

Pepper slowly nodded and looked around, obviously trying to find a place they could talk alone. Ellen must have noticed this because she called out to Jo.

"Jo, come here!"

Jo went to protest, having too much fun at her game but she saw the look her mother was giving her, and she quickly placed her pool cue on the table and walked over to the bar.

"We'll be down in the basement doing stock take if you need us." Ellen told the couple before she ushered Jo towards the basement.

"But I've already done stock take."

They heard Jo complain as they disappeared. Dean's lips curved up in a grateful smile. He appreciated that Ellen understood that he and Pepper needed to talk alone, although she probably wouldn't be very happy with him once she found out what was actually going on. Dean turned back to look at Pepper for a moment. She looked defeated as she stared at the chalked end of her cue, and Dean decided that it was one of the worst things he had ever seen, and he'd seen some horrible things.

"I'm sorry." He said just above a whisper because he couldn't think of what else to say.

Pepper looked up at him confused, "For what?" She asked.

"For how everything went down tonight. I'm sure that's not how you wanted to tell me."

"No, I think we could have done without all that." She joked but it sounded forced. "But that wasn't your fault. That's just how Granddad..."

Dean reached out and gently took the pool cue out of her hands. "Look, I really don't think Bobby meant what he said." He placed the cue onto the table and added, "And I think he feels really bad about it."

"Doesn't change the fact that it hurt." Pepper mumbled.

She bit her bottom lip as more tears fell onto her cheeks. Dean didn't even think as he pulled her towards him and she fell willingly into his arms. Her arms folded against his chest, with their foreheads resting against each other and Dean's strong arms around Pepper's back. Dean moved one hand up and stroked her cheek, removing her tears with his thumb as they fell. He had never seen Pepper cry this much before. She had never really been one of those women who cried when they where upset. Dean didn't know if her tears where because of what Bobby had said or if it was mostly just hormones from being pregnant, though it was probably both.

"God, Dean." Pepper sighed heavily and closed her eyes. "This is doing my head in."

She pulled back and stepped away from him. Dean let her go and stood still as Pepper sank down to the floor and leaned her back against the pool table. She brought her knees up and folded her arms over the top.

"I don't know what I'm supposed to do." She admitted. "I don't even know what I want to do."

"It'll be alright." Dean tried to assure her as he sat down beside her, stretching his legs out in front of him and placing a gentle hand against her arm. "We'll figure something out."

"How?" She asked, turning to look at him. "I've never seen Granddad so angry before...at least not at me."

"You know it's not really any of Bobby's business. He's not the one who's going to become a parent."

"You're right; this is just about me and... Oh, Dean I'm sorry. I hadn't even considered what you might be going through right now." She apologized. "I've only been thinking of myself."

"That's really alright." said Dean. "I think you're entitled."

"But that's just selfish. I mean this is as huge for you as it is for me. I know that this was probably the last thing that you wanted to happen to your life."

"Not exactly, but, it's not the end of the world." Dean replied, with a slight shrug.

"But this changes everything, and you're being way too calm about all of this."

"Would you rather I fly off the handle and yell like Bobby's been doing?" Dean asked.

"Yes! . . . No." She sighed. "I'd rather not be the only one freaking out right now."

"I'm freaking out, I'm just holding it all in."

"I wish you wouldn't. I don't like not knowing how you feel. Especially about this."

"You wanna know what I'm feeling?" Dean asked. A serious expression crossing his features.

"Yes." Pepper nodded.

"Okay," Dean sighed, "I'm...terrified. It'd be good to have a family, a real one and I've always wondered what having a normal family would be like, but realistically I'd know that I would suck at it. I can deal with Vampires, Ghosts and Demons without a problem but a baby..."

"You could have just told me that, you know."

Dean shook his head. "I didn't want to stress you out anymore than you already were. Plus I wanted to be able to figure all that out in my own head before I came to you with it."

"So, what do you want?" Pepper asked and Dean saw that she was on the verge of tears once again. She turned slightly to face him more.

"I don't want you to cry anymore." He said quietly, and cupped her cheek for a moment.

"Dean," she sighed and leaned into his touch.

"Like I said, Pep, I won't be any good with a baby. Hell, I'm probably the last person on Earth who should be a father and," he sighed, "Lord knows my life is way too complicated for a baby. I mean you and I can't even have a proper relationship because we're both always on the road. How do we work a child into that?"

Pepper shook her head. "I don't know.'

"But, there's not much we can do to change it now, and if you want this baby then I'll be here for you. I'd never turn my back on you, you know that."

"Dean, please don't just say that because you think that's what I want to hear."

"I'm not." Dean replied. He dropped his hand from her cheek and tried to make his voice as serious and believable as he could so that she would know he was telling the truth. "I'm prepared to give this a go. I can't promise that I'll always do the right thing or that I'll always make the right decisions, but you've always meant a lot...to me." He reached for one of her hands and held it tightly. "I want to make this work."

They looked into each other's eyes for a long moment, not even blinking.

"Are you sure? Maybe you should take some time to think."

"Doesn't matter how long I have to think about it, my answers always going to be the same. I want to do this with you Pepper, no matter what happens."

Pepper couldn't help but smile, just so slightly. "You know that once we commit to this neither of us can change our minds."

"I know." Dean smiled back at her. "I'm not planning to change my mind."

He leaned forward and kissed her gently. He let go of her hand and moved to cup her face, while still kissing her almost timidly until he felt her melt against him. Pepper wrapped her arms around his neck and crawled closer to him. Dean moved one hand down to hold her waist so he could pull her even closer until she was straddling his legs.

Dean was glad to know that at least he and Pepper would be able to handle this together and that she wasn't going to push him away. Getting Bobby, John and Sam to go along with their decision was going to be a lot harder though. Hopefully all they needed was time and luckily, they had just less than 9 months of that ahead.

Dean's thoughts were interrupted when Pepper suddenly pulled back, placing her hands on his chest. Dean looked up at her and frowned.

"What is it?" He asked, bringing one hand up to place a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"I just, um, I wanted to make sure that we're on the same page here." She explained, lightly chewing on her bottom lip. "I need to make sure that we're going to do this together."

"Ah yeah." Dean nodded slowly in confusion. Hadn't he just said that?

"No, I mean...exclusively together." She clarified slowly making sure he was following her. "No more seeing other people where we're on opposite sides of the country. I know our deal is that we could both do whatever, and be with who ever we wanted as long as we didn't tell each other, but I don't think I can do that anymore. Not with a baby involved."

"Do you really think that I would pick up some random chick when you're the one whose carrying my child?" Dean asked, shocked.

Pepper thought for a brief moment and then shook her head.

"No, no I don't think that. Sorry. I just needed to know that you were sure."

"I am." Dean replied shortly but firmly. "Very sure.

"You'd be giving up a lot."

"But I'd be gaining so much more."

With that, Dean grinned and pulled Pepper back down into another kiss, still grinning against her lips.

He really liked this new deal, because truthfully he had never been truly happy with the first one. It was the thought of Pepper with other men that made him despise it and yes, that did make him a hypocrite because he spent a lot of time with as many different women as he could. He even had a long-term relationship with Cassie and even loved her (but not in the same way that he loves Pepper) but in his mind Pepper should only be with him. Of course, he'd never tell her this because it would probably be taken the wrong way and they would get into a fight. At least now, he was going to get her all to himself.

Dean knew that raising a baby was going to be hard, especially with the life styles they both had. It was rare for either of them to stay in the same place for longer than a month, and with the Yellow Eyed Demon still out there, it was going to be even more dangerous.

Dean silently promised that he would do everything in his power to make sure his baby came into the world safe and loved. For that to work he'd need to make sure that Bobby no longer wanted to kill him of course.

The next few months were going to be very interesting.

**TBC  
**

**Next Chapter - First Congratulations**

**Notes - **_Sorry if Dean seems a little out of character in this chapter. I tried to do the best that I could. Though, I believe he gets better in later chapters, but keep reading and decide for yourself._


	2. First Congratulations

**CHAPTER TWO - FIRST CONGRATULATIONS**

Dean and Pepper had moved from their positions on the floor and were now sitting on two bar stools. Dean leaned his side against the bar while Pepper was facing forward with one of her elbows on the bar and her chin resting in her hand. She had defiantly brightened up after their chat and Dean was glad that she was now smiling and not crying anymore. She had the usual sparkle back in her eyes as it had disappeared from the time she had walked into their motel room but after Dean had told her that he would be there for her and the baby she had begun to relax.

Dean wondered what Pepper would have done if he had said that he didn't want to have a baby. She would probably pretend that she was fine with that and let her true emotions out when he left. Not that that had ever crossed Dean's mind. Baby or not he was always going to stand by Pepper for reasons that he just couldn't really understand.

They had been sitting alone (if you exclude the sleeping form of Ash) for nearly thirty minutes and they were both content to sit there for the rest of the night but knew that eventually they would have to face Bobby and the others.

"Dean?"

"Yeah?" He asked, sliding forward on his stool to get closer to her.

"I was just wondering..." Pepper began to ask but trailed off as she lightly tapped her fingers on the bar.

"What?"

"Well, what do you think your family will say, you know, about the baby?" She asked. "And us deciding to raise it together?"

"I don't know." Dean shrugged.

"Come on Dean, you must have some idea."

"Well," Dean thought for a moment. "I'll probably get a lecture from dad about how irresponsible I was to let this happen. I can't say what Sam will do."

"He's your brother, Dean. You spend most of your days with him and you don't know how he'll react?"

"It's not like I spend my nights trying to think of how my little brother would react if I got you pregnant, Pepper." Dean shook his head slightly. "Sam's a lot like Dad. In some ways more than others, so he might try to lecture me as well. But he'll be easier to brush off than Dad will be."

"You don't think they'll accept it?"

"Doesn't matter if the do or not." Dean replied. "I meant what I said and my family isn't going to change my mind."

Pepper turned to face him with one eyebrow arched in silent question.

"Okay, so it does matter what they think." Dean continued answering the question he did not even have to hear. "I'd prefer it if they were on board with this but if they aren't; I guess I'll deal with it. This is important to me and Dad and Sammy will get that...Eventually."

Pepper smiled and leaned forward, brushing her lips across Dean's. They remained kissing for a few minutes and then they pulled apart and simply enjoyed each other's company.

"Do you normally hide out here when you and Bobby have a fight?" Dean asked after several minutes of silence.

"It depends on what we're fighting about." Pepper replied. "If it's something big, like this, then yeah I'd come here. Ellen's always been there for me, especially after my mother died and she doesn't ask a thousand questions. She just waits for me to tell her what's wrong."

"Does Bobby know that you come here?"

Pepper nodded. "The first time I came here, she left Jo and I out the back and called Granddad to let him know."

"At least you have some place to go."

"Yeah, it's great." Slowly she broke out into a huge grin. "Plus Ash always seems to cheer me up."

Dean laughed at that and looked over at Ash, who was still fast asleep, snoring lightly. He didn't even notice when Ellen came over to them. Ellen was able to get their attention when she cleared her throat.

"Is everything okay here?" She asked, looking from Dean to Pepper and back again.

Pepper smiled and nodded her head, "yeah. Yeah everything's fine."

Ellen watched her for a moment, trying to suss out if everything was truly fine. Deciding that it was she moved to grab some glasses from under the bar.

"You two want a drink?"

"Yeah, a beer would be great." Dean smiled. "Thanks Ellen"

Ellen nodded and began to fill up one of the glasses with beer and asked, "Anything for you, Pepper?"

"Oh, um..." Pepper began but trailed off.

"Y'should probably get something non-alcoholic." said Dean. He looked up, saw Ellen staring at him, and then realized what he had said. "Ah," He drawled, not knowing how to take that back.

"And why would Pepper need a non-alcoholic drink?" Ellen asked sternly as she placed his drink down in front of him. "I doubt it's because you're worried about me losing my license for serving alcohol to someone under age, so what's going on?"

Dean bit the inside of his cheek, cursing himself for letting the cat out of the bag so early. He looked up at Ellen and tried to pass off his most innocent look. It was bad enough that Bobby wanted his head on a pike; he didn't need Ellen after him as well. Dean hadn't been around Ellen for too long but he could tell that she can be very scary when she wants to be.

Dean looked over at Pepper, who sighed and shook he head. At least she didn't look mad at him for saying what he had.

"Well-" Dean began.

At that point, Jo came up from the basement carrying a case of glasses.

"-Mum, I'm not counting everything for a third time." She said

Jo set the case down on the floor beside the bar and walked around to stand beside Pepper. It took her a moment to realize that something was happening between Dean, Pepper and Ellen.

"Um, what's going on?" Jo slowly asked.

"I don't know." Ellen replied, "But Dean was just about to tell me."

"Right, well..." Dean began as he stared into his glass of beer.

Pepper had noticed how uncomfortable he was and smiled. Any other time she probably would have laughed at him but this was too serious. Placing a hand gently on Dean's leg, she looked at him for a moment before turning to Ellen.

Taking in a deep breath, Pepper said, "I'm pregnant."

Silence fell between all of them as this new information sunk in for Ellen and Jo. The eyes of the two Harvelle women grew wide in shock and both Dean and Pepper found that they couldn't hold Ellen's gaze, so they looked down at the bar instead. Pepper removed her hand from Dean's leg.

"You're what?" Jo asked, being the first one to break the silence.

"What the hell did you do, Dean?" Ellen demanded as she sharply turned to Dean.

Dean frowned and stood from his seat. "Why does everyone automatically think that this is all my fault?" He asked.

He found that it was a lot easier to defend himself to Ellen than it was with Bobby, probably because Ellen's first reaction wasn't to punch him in the face.

"Pepper can make her own choices you know. It's not as if I forced her to do anything she didn't want to."

Ellen glared at Dean for a moment but did not say anything. She looked at Pepper and her expression melted slightly. Pepper simply nodded to confirm that what Dean was saying was true.

"Have you told Bobby yet?" asked Jo

"Yeah." Pepper nodded

"How'd he take it?"

"He punched me in the face." Dean said with a scowl.

"What did you expect him to do?" Ellen asked, "Pat you on the back, buy you a cigar and celebrate the fact that you got his teenage granddaughter pregnant?"

"Well...no, not that." Dean replied. "But he could have waited until Pepper got the chance to tell me about the baby before herself, instead of storming in and throwing punches at me without even telling me what was going on."

"You're lucky hitting you was all he did." Ellen pointed out. "He took a shot at your dad for a lot less."

"Have you talked to him yet?" Ellen asked Pepper.

"Oh, um…" Pepper pressed her lips together sadly. "Not really. He...ah, he said some things."

Ellen reached out and grabbed Pepper's hand. Squeezing lightly she said, "just give him time, Sweetheart. He's angry and he does have a right to be," Ellen quickly glanced at Dean. "But he will do whatever is best for you. You know that he loves you."

"Yeah," Pepper sighed. "I know he does. It was just...hard."

"Like I said you need to give him some time to calm down. Once the two of you...or three of you," Ellen added and tilted her head to Dean, "sit down and have a long chat about this things will start to look better."

Pepper smiled slightly. "Thanks, Ellen."

Ellen nodded and stood up a little straighter as she turned to Dean.

"If you hurt her you won't just have Bobby out for your blood." She warned. "Understood?'

"Yeah," Dean quickly nodded. He frowned as he sat back down on the stool. "Everyone's so worried about you getting hurt. No one cares if I get hurt."

"That's because I am more likeable than you." Pepper told him, right before a large amused grin spread across her face.

Dean smiled back, glad that she was able to relax fairly quickly after talking about her troubles with Bobby. Hopefully Ellen was right and after they let, Bobby calm down things would work out.

"Do you have an idea of what you're going to do now?" Jo asked them.

"Not really." Pepper replied. "We just know that we're going to try and work it out together."

Dean nodded before having his first sip from his beer.

"Well then, congratulations." Jo offered and smiled at the couple.

Jo stepped back and opened her arms out to Pepper, who smiled and stood up. The two women hugged each other while Ellen set about getting them some drinks. Dean watched them and realized that he didn't really know how close Pepper and Jo were. If Ellen had been watching, Pepper since she was little then her and Jo probably spent a lot of time together. Jo was probably Pepper's oldest friend. This kind of surprised Dean because they didn't seem to have a lot in common, aside from the whole relatives in the Hunting business of course. Their relationship was probably more like cousins, related by the ties of their families' friendship, a lot like how Dean and Sam felt towards Bobby.

"Thanks, Jo." Pepper said when she pulled back from the hug. "Out of everybody who has found out about the baby you are the first, actually the only person who's congratulated us."

Dean smiled sadly and reached out to take her hand briefly as she sat back down. He knew that it had to be hard on her emotionally when no ones first reaction to her pregnancy was a good one. Dean did not see the point in trying to hide his relationship with Pepper any longer so he shifted his stool closer to hers and draped one arm around her waist, keeping her close while he finished his drink.

* * *

Some time later, Dean had lost track of how long they had all been sitting there. He and Pepper were still on their bar stools talking to Ellen. Jo was over by the jukebox deciding on what song to play and Ash was still fast asleep. Then, Pepper's phone began to ring. Pepper pulled it out and looked at the name on the screen.

"It's Sammy." She told Dean.

Dean frowned and then gestured with one hand that Pepper should give him the phone. He didn't know what his brother wanted or what he was going to say, but Dean wasn't going to take the chance that Sam might say something to Pepper that would upset her. He took the phone, answered it and pressed it against his ear.

"What's up, Sam?"

"Hey, Dean." Came Sam's calm voice, almost as if he had expected Dean to answer Pepper's cell.

"What do you want?" Dean asked.

"Is everything okay?" Sam asked. "It's just that it's getting late and Bobby's getting a bit, ah anxious. I mean we'd understand if you two need more time but do you think..." He paused for a moment and Dean heard him sigh heavily. "Any chance you'd be on your way back anytime soon?"

"Depends." said Dean. "Does it look like everyone's calmed down?"

"Yeah, it does. So....?"

Dean turned to Pepper, waiting for an answer. She sighed and nodded just the once.

"We're on our way." Dean replied before hanging up quickly. He placed the phone onto the bar and turned to Pepper. "You sure you're ready to go back?"

"We'll have to go back sometime." She replied. "I mean we can't stay here forever."

"I don't know" Dean smiled. "We could give it a good attempt."

Pepper laughed, before she stood up. She leaned over to Ellen while Dean grabbed his jacket and keys which he had set a top the bar some time ago.

"I just wanted to say thank you." Pepper said to Ellen right before she hugged her. "For actually listening."

Ellen gave her a small smile when she pulled back, "Just give me a call tomorrow."

"Come on, Pep. I'll drive you back." Dean offered, tossing his keys into the air just once.

"What about my car?" Pepper asked as they headed to the door. She turned to him and frowned. "If I go with you then I'd have to leave it here."

"Yeah, and that'd be sooo upsetting." Dean drawled sarcastically.

Pepper stepped closer to him and slapped him across the chest in annoyance. Dean grinned cheekily down at her.

"I'll get Ash to drive it back tomorrow for you, if you like." Ellen suggested.

Pepper thought for a moment and then sighed.

"That'd be great, thanks."

Pepper smiled one last time at Ellen and Jo, and then she turned and narrowed her eyes at Dean for his last comment. Dean narrowed his own eyes at her mimicking her face as he opened the door for her. He grinned when she rolled her eyes and walked out.

Dean looked over at Ellen, who had a stern expression over her face. He really wanted her (and everyone) to understand that he was serious about this relationship with Pepper, and that he would never intentionally hurt her, except he didn't know how to really do this. He settled on holding her gaze for several seconds before leaving.

As Dean got into the Impala, he looked over at Pepper's car and wondered what his chances were of Ash forgetting to drive it back to Bobby's house.

* * *

Dean pulled the Impala up to the front of Bobby's house for the second time that night. He turned the ignition off and turned to Pepper, who had been sitting in the passenger seat silently since they had left the RoadHouse. Neither of them moved at first until eventually Dean spoke.

"Wanna go in now?" He asked. "I'm sure they know we're out here."

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, leaning her head back. "Okay," she breathed. Turning her head towards Dean, she opened her eyes and added, "But if Granddad starts throwing punches again I'm going back to Ellen's"

Dean smiled, "fare enough."

Together they got out of the car and made their way up the porch stairs to the front door. They had no idea what sort of mood the others were going to be in when they walked inside. Dean felt Pepper tense up slightly beside him and decided that taking her back to Ellen's might not be such a bad idea if things got out of control again.

* * *

As soon as Dean and Pepper walked into the living room, Bobby walked over to Pepper and hugged her tightly, his face showing how truly sorry he was and at first Pepper was surprise by the hug but soon hugged him back, clearly glad that he wasn't angry at her anymore.

Dean moved away from them uncomfortably to sit on the arm of the sofa, avoiding eye contact with Sam and John. Sam was sitting on the other opposite side of the sofa while John was standing near the entry to the kitchen, his arms folded over his chest.

When Bobby finally pulled back from Pepper, he kept his hands on her arms so he could keep eye contact with her.

"I am really sorry, Pepper." Bobby said softly, so that the Winchesters wouldn't hear him. "I shouldn't have said what I did and I don't believe it. Not it a million years."

Pepper nodded, "I know. I just...don't like that you're so disappointed in me-"

"-I'm not disappointed in you." Bobby assured her quickly. "I'm just not that happy with this situation, but I could never be disappointed in you, Pepper. You're my granddaughter. You're the only family that I have and you mean more to me than anything."

Tears began to fill her eyes once more, so Bobby leaned down to hug her again. Pepper quickly wiped her tears away with the back of her hand when they pulled apart.

"Right, I think we should all talk now, don't you think?" Bobby asked her.

Bobby smiled warmly at her before turning around and walking over to the others. When he walked past Dean, his smile suddenly seemed a lot more forced and less warm; clearly, he was still upset with the eldest Winchester son. He may be ready to support Pepper in her decision but that did not mean he was ready to forgive Dean for getting her pregnant.

Pepper followed Bobby and stopped beside Dean.

"Actually would it be okay with everyone if we talked about all of this in the morning?" She asked

"Are you alright?" Dean asked, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder and startling everyone else in the room.

Pepper smiled at him, "Yeah, I'm just tired. It is pretty late and we've all had an extremely hard day."

"Yeah," Dean nodded. "Guess we have."

"We can talk tomorrow," Bobby agreed. "Whenever you're ready, Pepper."

"Good." Pepper sighed. "So, I guess I'll see you all tomorrow then."

With that, she leaned over and kissed Dean's cheek tenderly. Dean's eyes flicked over to Bobby to see his reaction but the older man wasn't looking at them, which was probably a good thing, Dean shifted his eyes back just as Pepper pulled away from him. He smiled at her before watching her turn and go upstairs. He knew that she'd probably feel better after a good night sleep.

After she had finally disappeared, Dean rubbed a hand over his face before hoping off the arm of the sofa to slide down onto one of the cushions.

"Guess all your stuff doesn't seem so dramatic now, hey Sam." Dean joked, referring to their recent information about Sam and the Yellow Eyed Demon.

"So, what happened at the RoadHouse?" Sam asked.

Dean shrugged, "Pepper and I talked and sorted some things out."

"Did you two tell anyone there what was going on?" John asked.

"Yeah, we told Ellen and Jo." Dean replied. "Pep, probably would have told Ash too but he was busy sleeping at the time."

"How'd they take it?" asked Sam.

"Jo congratulated us after the shock had worn off and Ellen threatened to kill me if I did anything to hurt Pepper." Dean paused and frowned. "I'm starting to think that no one trusts me when it comes to Pepper."

"You got her pregnant." Bobby reminded him. His anger starting to creep back into his voice now that Pepper was no longer in the room. "I think we have a fare case not to trust you."

"Okay, okay I know but like I said, I didn't plan for Pepper to get pregnant. It just happened, and I am going to do the right thing." Dean replied as honestly as he could.

Bobby seemed to accept this answer and nodded, but Dean guessed it was more to do with that fact that it had been a long day for all of them and none of them really had the strength to fight anymore tonight.

"I think we should follow Pepper's lead and call it a night." John suggested. He had been watching both his sons since Dean had sat down and they both looked utterly exhausted.

"Yeah you're probably right." Dean agreed. He stood up and stretched but paused when he realized that they might not be welcomed to stay in the house.

"Ah, will we be staying here?"

Bobby sighed. Shaking his head he said, "of course you'll be staying. I'm not going to kick you out just so that I can have Pepper wake up in the morning and get upset."

"You two can sleep in the spare room and I'll sleep down here again." said John.

"Okay I just wanted to be sure." Dean replied.

Dean and Sam headed upstairs while Bobby went to get some spare pillows and blankets for John.

* * *

By the time Bobby had retreated upstairs, Sam and Dean were already in the spare room, though Bobby wasn't sure if they were sleeping or not. When he came to Pepper's bedroom door he decided to quickly look inside to see if she was okay. She was sleeping soundly and looked quit peaceful as she slept.

Bobby sighed as he closed the door. She seemed like she was handling this better than most people would. As Bobby walked into his own room, he silently swore that he would do the right thing by her from now on, even if that meant that he would have to accept Dean as a permanent part of her life.

* * *

Sam sat on one of the beds in the spare bedroom and watched as Dean hovered near the slightly opened door. Dean hadn't spoken a word since they had gone upstairs and Sam was a little annoyed by this. Not that he had really expected Dean to go into a deep and meaning full conversation about everything but even the occasional word would have been good.

"Dean, what are you doing?" Sam asked, finally breaking the silence.

"Nothing." Dean replied flippantly.

"So then why are you hovering by the door?"

Dean turned around while letting out a long breath.

"I'm seeing if Bobby has actually gone to bed yet."

"Why?"

"I want to make sure Pepper's alright."

"And you're sure that's a good idea?" Sam asked with a frown. "Bobby probably isn't going to like it."

"I know, that's why I'm making sure he doesn't find out."

"You're really scared of Bobby aren't you." Sam said and it was more of a statement than a question.

"Of course." said Dean. He turned back to the door and asked, "Aren't you?"

"Yeah, but he doesn't have a reason to kill me." Sam muttered.

Several minutes later, Dean was still fidgeting near the door, peaking out every now and then. Eventually Sam got fed up. He was tired and knew that he would not get any sleep until Dean either sat down or just left the room.

"Just go, Dean." Sam sighed in frustration. "Bobby hasn't killed you yet, and I doubt there is anything else you could possibly do that is worse than getting Pepper pregnant."

Dean paused, looking at Sam. He contemplated this for a moment and realized that Sam was probably right. There was nothing else he could do to upset Bobby more and Dean didn't think that Bobby would start something in front of Pepper.

Dean nodded his head once, held his breath and walked carefully out of the room. When the door shut behind him, Sam shook his own head and flopped back onto the bed.

* * *

Dean slowly crept down the hallway to Pepper's room. He paused briefly in front of the bedroom door and waited to make sure that Bobby wasn't about to come crashing out of his own room to catch him. Dean was beginning to feel like a teenager sneaking through the bedroom window for a quick grope session with his girlfriend before her parent's caught on to what was happening. A minute later, he let out the breath he had been holding and opened Pepper's door.

The room was covered in complete darkness as Dean quietly made his way towards the bed.

Pepper turned over onto her side but remained in a deep sleep, undisturbed by his presence. Dean was grateful for this because she had been looking really tired and stressed before she had called it a night and there was no way of knowing how long it would take her to get back to sleep if he accidentally woke her up. Carefully as he could, Dean bent down and unlaced his boots before pulling them off. He placed them against the wall right next to the door then took off his shirt, dropping it over his boots. Next, he unbuckled his belt and unzipped his jeans. When his jeans were off and he was left in just his boxers he moved back to the bed.

He pulled back the blankets, careful not to wake up Pepper and climbed in beside her, automatically wrapping one arm around her waist to pull her against him. With his other hand he brushed her hair off the back of her neck and gently nuzzled her skin with his nose.

Dean closed his eyes and sighed before kissing her soft skin. Later in the night, as they both slept soundly, Dean's hand remained splayed against Pepper's stomach.

* * *

Dean woke up the next morning when he felt the bed under him shift. He opened his eyes to see Pepper sliding away from him. Just before she was out of reach, he lightly pulled her back against him.

"Morning." He mumbled his voice thick from sleep. "You okay?"

"Hhm." She sighed, "Could you let me go please?"

Dean thought for a moment and then shook his head against her shoulder.

"Nope." He replied.

"Dean, I have to go to the bathroom." She complained.

Dean let her go and Pepper carefully moved to the edge of the bed. The fact that she took the time to stretch her arms above her head showed Dean that she was not busting to go to the bathroom. She probably just wanted to get in to the shower before anyone else. That had been one of the biggest issues for all of them when the Winchester's had all stayed there. Five people sharing one house, so the hot water had to be shared equally, which didn't often happen.

Pepper lowered her arms and swiped her hands over her closed eyelids slowly. Dean sat up on his elbows and watched her.

"Are you okay?" He asked once again.

Pepper turned around and frowned at him. "Didn't you already ask me that?"

"Yes but 'Hhm' isn't really a proper answer."

Pepper sighed and then smiled slightly.

"I'm fine. Really, I'm just feeling a bit...iffy."

"Iffy?" He asked, with one brow raised in confusion.

"Yes, iffy but if you want to get technical we can call it morning sickness though today isn't as bad as it has been. I guess it comes and goes." She finished with a grin.

"Then I hope it stays like this for you until the baby is born."

"Well, I'm going to have a shower." She announced and stood up from the bed. "Try not to say anything to start a fight with Granddad before I get downstairs."

"I'll try, but I'm not promising anything."

Pepper laughed, shaking her head as she leaned over the bed. She kissed him lightly but moved away before he could deepen the kiss. Dean watched her leave the room then he laid back down on the bed, not ready to get up just yet. He could allow himself a few more minutes to avoid what was sure to be a very intense morning.

* * *

By the time Dean finally got out of bed and headed downstairs, Bobby and John were already awake and drinking coffee in the kitchen. Dean tried to act as calm and as natural as he could as he sat down at the table. Bobby took a long sip from his mug and gazed intently at Dean, which caused Dean to fidget in his seat.

"How's Pepper this morning?" Bobby asked, surprising Dean immensely.

"I...ah," Dean stuttered nervously. He swallowed and asked, "Why do you think I'd know?"

Bobby sighed, "I looked in on her this morning to make sure she was okay." He explained. "So I know that you were there."

Dean stared at him, shocked. He was sure that if Bobby had caught him in Pepper's room then he would have thrown him out, but apparently, he had just left them together. In truth, Dean was still waiting for Bobby to take another swing at him.

Dean began to open his mouth to give some sort of reason as to why he was sleeping in Pepper's room, no matter how weak it might be when Bobby held up a hand to stop him.

"Look, I might not like this situation that we're in here and I might not like you being with Pepper, but if this is what she wants then I can't really stop her." Bobby paused to finish of his coffee in one gulp. "I don't want to see her upset anymore," he mumbled as he lowered his mug.

"Yeah," Dean nodded. "Neither do I."

"Having said that, I am still going to hunt you down, if you ever do anything to hurt her." Bobby warned.

"Trust me I'm not going to do anything to hurt her. You have my word."

Bobby nodded and Dean was glad that his word still meant something to the elder Hunter.

"Besides," Dean added with a smile. "A part from having you and Ellen on my back if I did, I'd also have Pep after me and she can be far worse than the two of you put together."

Bobby couldn't help the little smile that crossed his lips at that statement.

John smirked from behind his mug. He was glad that everything seemed to have calmed down since last night. There were still a lot of issues that they all needed to discuss but at least they were all willing to do that like mature adults. John just wanted things to be similar to how they had been in his dream. He wanted Dean to be happy and he wanted to see him be completely devoted to his baby girl. He also wanted to make sure that things worked out with Dean and Pepper because she just completed the picture.

Dean deserved to be happy and Pepper really did seem like the perfect woman for him in the same way that Mary had been the perfect woman for John. Pepper wasn't just another dumb, ditzy blonde-haired woman that Dean met at a bar and John could see just in his son's eyes that he truly cared for her. Plus she got on well with Sam, and that was important in John's mind because he couldn't image how Dean would ever make a relationship with a woman work if that woman did not like his little brother.

John simply could not wait until the baby was born. He was going to do his best to be a better grandfather than he was a father. He could admit to himself that he had made some mistakes, big mistakes when he had raised Sam and Dean and he wasn't proud of that, but he'd put everything he had in to being there for his grandchild.

Sam came into the kitchen looking like he was still half-asleep. He sat down heavily in to the spare chair at the table.

"Morning." He said, looking around the room. "Where's Pepper?"

"Still in the shower I'd guess" Dean replied

"So, um" Sam began as he yawned and rubbed one eye with his hand. "Have we talked about what's going to happen yet?"

"No, like I said last night we can talk when Pepper is ready." Bobby replied.

Sam nodded and gratefully accepted the coffee that John held out to him. After that, the four of them remained silent as they each contemplated their own thoughts on what was to come.

* * *

When Pepper finally came downstairs (looking a lot brighter than she had the day before) Dean and the others were sitting around in the living room simply waiting for her. Dean and John sat on opposite sides of the sofa, Bobby was sitting down at the small table covered in books and Sam sat in a chair brought out from the kitchen. Dean was the first to notice when Pepper had come into the room. He turned around to face her as she stood behind him, and he threw an arm over the back of the sofa.

"Hey," He smiled at her. "Feeling better?"

"Much." She replied, with a smile of her own.

Bobby looked at her with a slight frown. "You're not feeling well?" He asked

"I am pregnant. I think it kind of comes with the territory." She joked and then became very serious. "So, I think now would be a good time to sit down and talk about what's happened." Pausing to look at Bobby, she added, "Calmly talk"

"Yes, Pepper." Bobby agreed, not missing her emphasize of the word 'calmly'.

Pepper walked around and gestured for Dean to slide across the sofa, closer to his father so that she could lean against the armrest. Dean moved for her and waited for her to sit down.

"Okay then, who wants to start?" John asked, looking at Dean and Pepper.

"Well, um, I guess first you should know that we've decided to have this baby." Pepper explained. "Together."

"Together as in a couple?" asked Sam

Dean couldn't help but grin as he nodded in response.

"You're not going to get married are you?" Sam asked him but it was half a joke.

"Oh god, no." Came Pepper's quick dismissal, a little too quick for Dean's liking.

He turned around slightly to face her a little better. A scowl on his face. "You were pretty quick to deny that one. What's wrong with getting married to me?" He demanded.

"You mean a part from the fact that you're not the marrying type?" She asked "And besides, I'm not ready to get married."

"You're not ready to get married but you are ready to have a baby?" asked Bobby.

"Yes." Pepper nodded towards him. She turned back to Dean and continued. "Look I just don't think that I will ever want to get married, and if I do the only reason wont just be because I got pregnant."

"That wouldn't be the only reason." Dean muttered.

Truthfully, Dean was a little relieved that she didn't want to get married. The thought had never crossed his mind as something that they should do. However, it was still a little annoying to know that she may not even want it as an option.

"I don't see what the big deal is anyway." said Pepper. "It's not like any one here really ever considered marriage as an option yesterday when they found out about the baby. Most of you weren't even happy about us being together in the first place."

"And by that you mean me." said Bobby.

"I'm sorry Granddad, but it's true." Pepper replied, "You weren't exactly jumping for joy over this--"

"--I'm not going to pretend that I am one hundred percent okay with all this." Bobby said, interrupting her. "And there is a lot about this... relationship that I'd rather not know about, but I do just want to see you happy, Pepper. So as long as you are happy with any decision that you make and you know exactly what you're getting into then I will support you and I won't cause any problems."

"Thank you." Pepper smiled. "That's really all I wanted to know. So, um, do you think you could also stop threatening Dean with bodily harm now, because it's starting to make me uncomfortable."

Bobby chuckled, he face relaxing as he nodded. "Sure, I guess I can try."

"Alright, so you're going to raise this baby together?" John wanted to confirm and both Dean and Pepper nodded. "But have you thought about how you're going to do that? There is a lot to think about."

"I know that Dad." said Dean. "Neither of us is going into this lightly. There's still a lot to get used too, but the way I see it we have like seven months to prepare, right?" He asked Pepper.

Pepper just rolled her eyes and shook her head while Dean broke out into a grin.

"If you need a place to stay after the baby is born you can stay here," said Bobby. He turned to Dean, "you can both stay."

"What?" Pepper asked.

Bobby shrugged slightly. "This has always been your home, Pepper. Seems only right that you stay here with your baby, and let's face it, it's not as if anyone else here has a proper home to raise a baby in."

"Ah, I do have an apartment. Remember." said Pepper.

"An apartment that is across the country that you hardly ever use." Bobby stated. "I don't even know why you still have that place."

"I like having my own place." She said then smiled. "But thank you, Granddad. That's really sweet of you to offer and I guess that for the moment it is the best option."

Bobby smiled warmly at Pepper, glad to be able to put a smile on her face instead of tears in her eyes.

"Dean, I'd hate to bring this up," Sam began. "But what about hunting?" He asked.

"What about it?" Dean asked.

"Um, are you still going to do it?"

"Oh," Dean frowned. He hadn't really spent the time to think about that. "I never thought about it, Sam. What d'you think?" He asked Pepper.

"I just figured you would keep doing it." Pepper replied and shrugged. "I know how important hunting is to you, and what with the Yellow Eyed Demon still out there I didn't expect you to just give it up cold turkey."

Dean looked at her carefully. "So, you're okay if I go hunting but not if I want to marry you?" He asked.

Pepper sighed, "You're not going to let that go are you?"

Dean shook his head with a smirk on his face.

"There ya go, Sammy." Dean said, turning back to his brother. "I'll keep hunting until we get the Demon. We'll just have to be a little more careful."

"Well you won't be much use to me dead." Pepper agreed.

"Hopefully will get the son of a bitch well before the baby is born." Dean added referring to the Demon.

"And after all of that?" John could not help but ask.

John knew that it was going to be a hard thing for Dean (or any of them) to let go and give up this life of hunting. It had been a huge part of their lives for far too long. However, John knew that if Dean in the real world was going to be anything like the Dean in his dream than he would be able to adapt to a family life easily. It was just a question on whether or not he would leave hunting out for good or not.

"I don't know yet." Dean replied honestly. "For now we'll just keep following any leads we get, but I'll wanna keep coming back here just to make sure that things are okay."

"Make sure what things are okay?" Pepper frowned, confused.

"Ah well you and the baby." Dean slowly replied. "I'm not going to leave you for too long while I go on hunts."

"That's great, Dean, but I'm not going to be here."

"Didn't you just tell Bobby that the best option was for you and the baby to stay here?" Dean asked, just as confused as Pepper had been.

"Exactly. And the baby, but Dean that's months off. Why should I have to stay in the one place while you get to travel around?" She demanded a little angrily.

"Because it's my job, Pepper." Dean stated and his tone matched hers.

"Hunting is not a real job, Dean. For one thing, you aren't paid for it. Now I on the other hand have an actual job that does pay money." Pepper replied. "Good money."

"I'm not going to let you travel around by yourself." Dean told her and by the scowl that crossed her face, he knew he had said the wrong thing. Oh well, it was too late to take it back now.

"You're not going to let me?" She demanded as she folded her arms sharply across her chest. Glaring at Dean she said, "baby or not, Dean you don't get to tell me what to do."

"Pepper, you are pregnant." Bobby quickly cut it, trying to defuse the situation. "It's too dangerous for you to go out on your own. Especially when you know all the things that are really out there."

"You've never had a problem with me going out on my own before."

"I have actually but you just went anyway," said Bobby. "But it's a little different now; you have the baby to think of."

Pepper suddenly turned her glare towards Bobby. "Granddad are you implying that I can't take care of myself or my baby?"

"No." Bobby quickly replied. He didn't want to get into another fight with her.

"Granddad I love my job, okay. I'm good...no I am great at it. I get to go to places that I want to go and not just where the magazines send me." She told him. "So I'm going to keep doing it."

"Pep, you can't--"

"--Couldn't Pepper just come with us?" Sam asked suddenly as he slid forward on his chair.

Dean paused and he, Pepper, Bobby and John all slowly turned towards Sam.

"What?" The four of them asked in unison.

Sam shrugged. "Well I just thought that it'd be easier if we were all together." He tried to explain.

"So you're suggesting that my pregnant granddaughter go with you on hunts?" Bobby asked.

"No, well yes, but I didn't mean that she should come with us when we're actually working the job." Sam explained with a shake of his head. "Pepper could just stay at the motel while we deal with whatever it is that we're hunting at the time, or we could drive to the place that she needs to be to take pictures."

"That actually makes a lot of sense," said Pepper.

"You think it's a good idea?" asked Dean.

"Well, it is the safest option and I can't see any of us coming up with something better, so...." Pepper broke out into a smile, "...I'll come with you."

Dean grinned back and it amazed John that the two of them could go from fighting and sending glares at each other, to grinning like idiots within minutes.

"Good plan, Sammy." Dean nodded towards his brother. "But you'll have to leave your car here." He added to Pepper.

"You're just saying that because you don't like my car." Pepper protested.

"Nah ah, I'm thinking about your safety." Dean replied in all seriousness, well that was what he was going for. "It'd be much easier to protect you if we were in the same car. I guess the bugs got to stay."

Pepper let out a frustrated sigh, "for the last time, Dean. It is not a bug. It is a Beatle. God, you're supposed to be the car expert and yet you can't manage to get that simple fact right!"

"Bug, Beatle...both are tiny little insects that should be squished under my boot."

Pepper lifted her arm and sharply smacked Dean across the chest without saying a word.

"Hey, I thought you said no more physical violence?" Dean complained.

"I said Granddad wasn't aloud to use physical violence against you, not that I wasn't."

Dean frowned but he wasn't putting a lot of energy into it.

Pepper sighed and shook her head. "Granddad can I just leave my car here?" she asked.

"That would be fine." Bobby told her.

"We all get that this is happening right?" Dean asked the group, suddenly more serious than he had been in minutes. "That there is going to be a baby?"

The other three men in the room nodded their heads. In truth, Dean had only asked that so he could be sure that they all understood what was going to happen. Namely, that there was going to be a baby and that they were all going to be affected by that.

John studied his son carefully. Dean was taking this news a lot better than most people in his situation would, almost as if Dean had already wanted a kid but was just waiting for the right woman. Sub consciously at least.

"You really want this?" John asked, and it took him a moment to realize that he had asked it aloud.

"Yeah, dad. I really do."

"I've got some things I want you to take with you, if Pepper is going to be going with you on jobs," said Bobby.

"Like what?" asked Sam

"Things that will offer the three of you some much needed extra protection." Bobby replied.

"That's probably a good idea." John nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, thanks Bobby." Dean smiled. At least he kind of had Bobby on side again, even if it was just for Pepper's sake. Eventually he hoped that Bobby would get used to the idea of him being with Pepper enough to be his friend again.

"Hhm, we should also make sure that we're here a few weeks before the baby's actually due," said Pepper thoughtfully. "I don't want to risk giving birth on the side of a road somewhere."

"Yeah, that'd be bad." Dean agreed rather quickly. He defiantly did not want his kid being born on a road. "The hospital's close to here so this place out ranks any road."

By the way that Pepper was smiling; Dean knew that she agreed with him. After all, she'd probably be a hell of a lot more comfortable in a hospital compared to the roadside anyway.

Suddenly, she leaned up and kissed him tenderly for a moment. Bobby, John and Sam all tried to pretend like they weren't there. It was the first time that Dean and Pepper had really acted like a couple without being subtle about it and they were all still trying to get used to it. In time, they would get used to it.

"Oh, hey has Ash dropped my car around yet?" Pepper asked after she had pulled away from Dean.

"Not yet, no." Bobby replied.

"Maybe he forgot." Dean stated and pouted. "Aw, how sad." He said mockingly.

Pepper lifted her arm and smacked his chest again.

Bobby shook his head and smiled slightly. It was good to know that Pepper could handle herself with Dean. Maybe she really didn't need to be protected from him.

Bobby turned around and headed towards the stairs.

"Where are you going Bobby?" Sam asked.

"To start getting those protection amulets together." The older man replied. "Most of em' are still in storage."

"I'll help." John decide and stood up.

"Me too." said Dean. "Otherwise I'm probably going to get hit again." He added while frowning down at Pepper.

"Only if you say something stupid." Pepper pointed out. She paused then slowly added, "So yeah you should probably go."

"Oh hardy har har." Dean drawled sarcastically as he stood up.

John and Bobby both tried to hide their amusement at this. After spending two weeks in the same house as Dean and Pepper, neither of them had seen the couple act so... Comfortable around each other. It was almost as if they had let their guard down since announcing that they were going to be a real couple raising their baby together.

John noticed that they were acting just the way they had in his dream. A nice playful banter that could turn both serious and loving within seconds and back again. It reminded him of why he was so willing to involve Pepper in their lives to begin with, well that and of course the baby.

Dean and John followed Bobby up the stairs to the cupboard where most of the amulets' where or where meant to be.

Pepper stretched out on the sofa a little and placed one leg up, bending her knee slightly. Sam got up from his chair and moved to sit down beside her. He watched her closely as she let out a long sigh.

"You seem happier." He told her.

She smiled. "I am. It's nice to know that this wasn't as bad as everyone was making it out to be and now that it's all out in the open I don't feel like crying anymore."

"I'm sorry, Pepper." Sam apologized with his head down, unable to look her in the eye.

He felt bad for how he had reacted, though grateful that his reaction wasn't as bad as Bobby's was.

"I never meant to...It's just a lot to get used to, you know."

"I know, Sammy." Pepper smiled reassuringly at him. "Now, are you sure that you don't mind me going with you and Dean while you travel?"

"I wouldn't have made the suggestion if I didn't want you there." He replied.

"That's probably true, but I was only asking because, well you sometimes seem a little awkward when Dean and I are around each other."

"I don't mean to be. I've just never really seen my brother in a serious relationship before."

"Well I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable."

"I'm not that bad," He said, a little shyly.

Pepper arched one eyebrow, "you got so bad the last time I met up with you and Dean, that you had to leave the room for hours..." She paused as her mind worked over that bit of information. "Ooh, and then I got pregnant. So really, if you think about it… This is partly your fault."

Sam was shocked. Not because he was scared that was true, because he had done the math and yeah it was true, but because if Bobby found out then he may direct his anger at Sam. While Bobby had promised not to hit Dean anymore, he had made no such promises regarding Sam.

"Are you going to tell Bobby that?" Sam asked horrified that she might.

Pepper laughed, "relax, Sammy. That's just something that Granddad doesn't need to know so we'll just keep it between us."

"Yeah thanks."

"You really are okay with this?" She asked one more time.

"Yeah." Sam replied as he relaxed again. "I mean, it's not like you and I don't get along or anything. It'll be good to talk to someone who isn't Dean, and like I said, I'll just have to get used to seeing my brother in a proper relationship. Plus Dean really wants this. We don't get a lot of normal in our lives so this is different for us and I know how badly Dean wants this to work. So I do too."

Pepper frowned and asked, "Getting a nineteen year old pregnant is normal?"

"Compared to what we deal with nearly everyday? Yeah, it really is."

Pepper laughed once again at that and realized that it was quite true when talking about the Winchesters.

"Thank you, Sammy." She said before leaning over and gently kissing his cheek in gratitude.

When she pulled back, Sam smiled. He really did like Pepper. She was smart, fun, pretty and she listened to him. There had been a few times when he was younger and would meet one of Dean's girlfriends and had hated it because most of those girls had only put up with him because he was Dean's geeky brother, but not Pepper. Sam would even go as far as to say that Pepper was just as much is friend as she was Dean's girlfriend.

Sam would be glad for the change in conversation that Pepper would bring. He hadn't been able to have a proper conversation with anyone but Dean in months and their topics of conversation where sometimes limited to the same things over and over again. At least with Pepper there, Sam might be able to talk more about things that interested him. He had really missed having a real friend these past two years.

"Hey, Pepper"

"Hhm?"

"I just wanted to say, that out of all the women that Dean could have knocked up, I'm glad it was you."

**TBC**

**Next Chapter - Making New Enemies**


	3. Making New Enemies

**Authors Notes -** _This chapter is my first attempt at using an entire episode from the series and putting my own twist to it. This chapter is based on the season two episode 'Bloodlust' so there will be a lot of word for word scenes from the episode in here. However, I did not want to put every single scene from the episode in here because that would have been a very long chapter. Plus I didn't want to write from Gordon's point of view. So if there are scenes that where skipped they still happened (like Sam talking to the Vampires after they kidnapped him) but I just did not write them. I am going to do this with all of these types of chapters. Thanks for reading!_

And thanks to my new Beta, Vanilla Sunset In The Sky :-)

**CHAPTER THREE - MAKING NEW ENEMIES**

Dean walked through the hospital corridor from the nurses' station to the exam room where Pepper was with a variety of different pamphlets in his hand. He was busy reading the front of one of the pamphlets as he stepped into Pepper's room.

"Hey, did you know that in the first two weeks of pregnancy you're not actually pregnant yet?" He asked her, fascinated by this information.

"What?" Pepper asked.

She was sitting up in a hospital bed waiting to see a doctor, a machine to the side of the bed that she would use later in her exam. Dean walked over to her and placed some of the pamphlets onto the cabinet next to the bed.

"It says so right here." Dean showed her the one he was reading. "You're not technically pregnant but your egg is being fertilized by the sperm." He read.

Pepper frowned as she looked over at the pamphlets. She reached out a hand and spread them around the top of the cabinet.

"Dean, why do you have all of these?"

Dean shrugged. "One of the nurses gave them to me after I told her I was here with my pregnant girlfriend."

"Well while you were busy getting some reading material," Pepper began to ask, "Did you also happen to ask how much longer the doctor was going to be?"

"Yes, actually I did." He informed her. "He should be here in like fifteen minutes."

Pepper just rolled her eyes and lay back against the pillow. Dean smirked and continued reading.

It had been four days since he and Pepper had informed everyone about their plan to stick together and raise this baby, and things had most certainly calmed down since then. That same afternoon, Pepper had made the appointment to see a doctor at the hospital. She explained to Dean that she wanted to make sure everything was all right before they traveled, not that she thought anything would be wrong but it never hurt to check these things. When Bobby had of course offered to bring Pepper to the appointment but Dean had assured him that he would be there. They were getting an ultra-sound, so they would be seeing the baby for the first time, there was no way that Dean was missing that.

Dean was momentarily lost in thought as he read so he didn't hear when the doctor came into the room.

The doctor was an elderly woman; Dean guessed mid-forties with wire brim glasses and short silver hair wearing a white standard doctor's coat and a stethoscope hanging around her neck. She smiled warmly at them and made her way over to the bed.

"Good afternoon, Pepper. Dean. I'm Dr. Pastrick."

"Hi." Pepper nodded.

"Now I say we just get started and you two can ask whatever questions you have afterwards. How does that sound?" Pastrick asked them.

"Sounds great." replied Pepper while Dean nodded.

"Alright then." Pastrick smiled.

Several minutes later, Pepper laid down on the hospital bed with her stomach exposed as Dr. Pastrick moved the ultra-sound machine over her skin, rubbing in the gel she'd put there. In front of her, was the monitor that showed a fuzzy picture that Dean guessed was the inside of Pepper's stomach. Dean was on the opposite side of the bed. His elbows resting on the edge beside Pepper's head and he leaned down to get a closer look at the image. After moving the stick around for a while, Pastrick finally located what she was looking for and stopped.

"And there is your baby." She told the young couple.

Dean and Pepper looked intently at the screen. Dean's eyes racked over the entire screen from top to bottom as he tried to see the baby but couldn't. It all just looked like a black and white mess to him. He hoped that Pepper could see it. He looked down at her and saw that she was smiling but also had tears in her eyes. He smiled down at her before turning his attention to the doctor.

"Someone's gonna have to help me out here, cause I'm just not seeing the baby." He said, slightly panicked.

Pastrick simply smiled. "It is hard for a lot of people to see it clearly." She leaned over and pointed a finger at the middle of the screen. "Okay, you see this white thing here?"

Dean squinted his eyes and then nodded.

"Well, that is your baby."

"That looks like a tadpole." He frowned.

"What did you think the baby was going to look like?" Pepper laughed at him.

"Like a baby." He replied as if it was obvious.

Pepper shook her head as she continued to laugh at him. "You're cute." She told him before she leaned up to kiss him. She only pulled back when she noticed the doctor pressing a button on the machine to freeze the image.

"We can get a picture printed of this if you would like." Pastrick told them as she gestured to the screen.

"Oh yes thanks," said Pepper.

Pastick nodded then spent several minutes helping Pepper clean the gel from her stomach. Meanwhile, Dean had moved closer to the screen and was looking down at the image frozen across it. That was his baby. That tiny, tiny tadpole looking dot on the screen was his child. It was so unreal and it was blowing his mind. He was so engrossed with the image that it wasn't until Dr. Pastrick spoke that Dean realized his eyes were starting to feel dry and that he needed to blink.

"Now, do you two have any specific questions for me?" Pastrick asked.

Dean reluctantly turned his back on the altra-sound machine and made his way to the bed. Pepper was now sitting up with her legs over the side so Dean sat down beside her. As soon as he was seated, his eyes found their way back to the screen. He could not believe that he was already amazed by the baby when it didn't really look like anything (besides a tadpole) but a dot on some screen.

"Yes, well Dean and I both travel a lot for our jobs," said Pepper. "And we still want to do that, so will being pregnant make that difficult?"

"Oh. Well I don't see why it should." Pastrick replied. "As long as you continue to have a steady and healthy pregnancy you should be alright."

Dean turned his head away from the screen at the Doctor's last statement. "Should?" He asked

"No need to worry," Pastrick assured Dean. "I just meant that with so many variables that occur whenever one travels it would be hard for me to give a definite answer, but I believe things should be fine."

"Um, also doctor we're not really sure when we'll be able to get back here but we'd still like to keep regular appointments, so do you think it would be possible for us to see other doctors while I'm pregnant and they we could just send all of my medical files back here? So that you'll have all of my information when the baby is born."

Pastrick thought for a moment and Dean could guess that she had never had a patient ask her something like that before.

"Well, I suppose that is up to you." Pastrick eventually replied. "If you can guarantee that all of your medical information will be here ready for when the baby arrives then I do not have a problem with it."

"Oh, good. Thank you."

Pastrick nodded her head. She turned the altra-sound off (much to Dean's disappointment) and grabbed the file she had been writing in.

"I'll just go and make a few notes on your file, Pepper and I'll be back."

With that, Dr. Pastrick walked out of the room leaving Dean and Pepper sitting on the bed.

"Is it a good idea to see doctor after doctor?" Dean asked

"Well it's either that or drive back here every time I need to make an appointment, which would be too time consuming. Or not see any doctor at all."

"Okay, I see your point." He nodded before turning his attention back to the screen even though it was now blank. He looked contently at the screen, lost in thought.

"Dean, are you alright?" Pepper asked.

"Yeah, it's just..." Dean turned to face her, his eyes catching hers. "That was our baby, Pepper." He sighed before admitting, "I kind of wasn't expecting just seeing that to have such an impact. It was so real."

Pepper looked at him confused so he quickly continued.

"No, I mean I know that it's real. It was just that actually seeing it on the screen made me realize just how real." He paused before looking down at her a little sheepish. "That doesn't make any sense does it?"

"Not really. But it a weird way I do understand what you're saying."

Dean smiled and raised both of his hands up to cup her face as he gently kissed her.

* * *

Dean, Sam and Pepper had left Bobby's place just over a week later after her first appointment. Pepper needed to be somewhere for a job, and since she didn't want to miss any more work they had left. Now it was four weeks later and the three of them were driving down an almost deserted road at 10:27AM. They had been driving since 6:30 that morning because the boys had completed a rather messy hunt leading to them wanting to get out of the town quickly.

Pepper slept on the back seat with a pillow propped up against the window. Dean was of course driving, hanging one arm lazily out of the window as he soaked up the sun's rays. Sam sat beside him looking out his window at the scenery as they drove by.

"Where are we going?" Sam asked looking over at his brother.

Dean shrugged, "Some place with good pie. I want pie."

"Of course you do." Sam muttered and rolled his eyes before turning back to the window.

Suddenly the sound of Pepper's loud cell phone rang out throughout the whole car. Pepper sat up quickly still dazed from sleep and looked around startled before she realized that her phone was what had woken her up. She frowned and dug into the pocket of her jacket, which lay beside her on the seat, and pulled out the phone. Dean and Sam could only sit in silence and listen to one side of the conversation.

"Hello?" She asked, while running a hand over her face. "Yeah...Hi...No, I'm doing alright...Thanks...Ah, sure, no I can do it...Where is it?...Right, okay well I'll get going and get the negatives sent to you before the end of the week...Yeah, you too...Alright. I'll talk to you later...Bye."

With that, she hung up and tossed her cell onto the seat beside her.

"Stupid, loud, technical, piece of crap." She mumbled while placing her head back onto the pillow and closing her eyes.

"Ah, Pep?" Dean asked, looking at her in the rear-view mirror. "Did you just get another job?"

Pepper opened her eyes and glared at him, "No, I was participating in a phone sex line." She snapped.

"Don't get snappy with me," said Dean. "I didn't wake you."

"Sorry," she sighed and sat up. "Yes I did get a job. We have to go to some place called Red Lodge, which I think is pretty close to the last place we were in."

Sam reached into the glove box and pulled out a few maps. Lying on top of one of the maps was the photo of Pepper's first ultra-sound. Sam looked at it for a moment and remembered how excited his brother had been to show it to him, before he carefully placed it back in the glove box. Sam scanned over all the maps until he located Red Lodge. He used his finger to trace the best direction for them to go.

"We're about three, maybe four hours away."

"Well that's convenient." Dean commented.

"Yeah, well lucky us." Pepper replied. She shut her eyes and leaned back against her pillow in an attempt to go back to sleep.

"What is it that you have to take pictures of?" Sam asked.

"Dead cows." Pepper mumbled, eyes still closed.

"As in dead cows in a field or dead cows on some burgers?" asked Dean, smirking a little with amusement.

"Field." She grunted. "Now, stop asking stupid questions and let me sleep."

"Hey, it's not my fault that you're tired." Dean frowned.

Pepper's eyes snapped opened. "It's completely your fault." She accused. "I didn't get much sleep last night because your baby caused me to spend most of my time throwing up. Which does make it your fault, so shut up."

Pepper closed her eyes again and as she laid back down Dean and Sam shared a look, both knowing that there was no point in arguing with her any more. Dean glanced back at her for a moment before turning back to the road and following Sam's directions to Red Lodge.

* * *

Three and a quarter hours later they all headed into the motel room Sam had booked for them. It was a two queens-sized bedroom, as were most of the rooms they stayed. Dean wasn't a hundred percent comfortable with any of them being apart for too long so he had decided that they would just have to share the one room, no matter how the others felt about it. It wasn't actually that bad and it did save them money but some of the looks they received from Motel clerks gave Dean the creeps sometimes.

Dean walked into the room and flopped down on one of the beds. Sam took a seat at the small round table in the kitchenette while Pepper took her bag and disappeared into the tiny bathroom. Ten minutes later, Pepper emerged from the bathroom in a different outfit. A knee length blue dress with long sleeves and a deep V-neck with black boots. Dean tilted his head to the side and took his time admiring her. She had the most amazing body he had ever seen and sometimes he was surprised that she was his.

"So, who's coming with me?" Pepper asked as she picked up a shoulder bag with her camera and equipment in it.

"To look at a bunch of dead cattle?" Dean asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Mutilated cattle actually." Pepper replied. "Want to come?"

"I'll come with you," said Sam before Dean could answer. "It might be nice to hang out away from our motel room for a day."

"We spend time out of the rooms all the time," said Dean

"But not a lot." replied Sam. He stood up and walked over to Pepper.

Pepper smiled down at Dean. "We'll see you when we get back." She kissed his nose before standing up and leading the way out the door.

Just as Sam was about to follow her, Dean called out and stopped him.

"Sam-"

"-I know Dean. Don't worry." Sam said quickly. He knew what his brother was going to say. He was going to remind him to watch Pepper, and to protect her. Not that Sam needed to be told of course because Dean pretty much pulled him aside and said it whenever Sam and Pepper were going somewhere together.

Ever since they had left Bobby's, Dean had become even more protective of Pepper. Actually that wasn't true it was right after their first altra-sound. Pepper was basically with one of them all of the time except for when they were out hunting and she was left in the motel room. That was a new unspoken rule between the three of them and while it did annoy Pepper, she understood the reason behind it. At least with Sam there it wasn't just Dean hovering around Pepper all the time.

Dean nodded at Sam in silent thanks and watched him leave. He would have gone with them but he had been driving for hours, stopping once at a cafe for some breakfast, and he was exhausted. What Pepper hadn't realized was that while she had been up all night so had he. Usually he was a reasonably deep sleeper but with a pregnant Pepper sleeping beside him he was always on alert incase anything went wrong. So when Pepper left the bed, he was awake to make sure everything was all right.

He grabbed the TV remote and starting flicking through all the channels.

* * *

Sam drove Pepper to one of Red Lodge's farms (there was over thirty around the area) where some of the cows had mysteriously died and were mutilated.

The both got out of the car and made their way to the front door of the house where Pepper knocked. She had some identification around her neck that she always wore when she was working so that people would know she was for real and not just some nut trying to take pictures of weird things. Sam stood beside her carrying her bag of equipment. After the first knock, a tall middle-aged man opened the door and frowned at them. Sam shifted from one foot to the other uncomfortably. The farmer reminded him of those people in movies who kept a shotgun resting beside the door for visitors.

"Yeah?" The mad asked, looking them both up and down.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Hankins." Pepper said warmly as she reached her hand out. "I'm Pepper Bassingthwaite-"

"-Oh yeah, the photographer." Hankins smiled and shook her hand.

"Exactly. And this is my assistant, Sammy."

"Ah, hello." Sam nodded feeling slightly less uncomfortable.

"I hope we haven't come at a bad time. I don't think the magazine set a time but if we're not intruding we could simply get started and then we'll be out of your way."

"Alright," Hankins nodded. "I've got some work to do in here so you two can just head out. Just do what you have to do then come and see me when you're done."

"Thank you Mr. Hankins." Pepper smiled.

After giving them directions to which field they needed to go to, Hankins excused himself and walked back into the house. Pepper turned to Sam and smiled before leading the way to were they needed to be.

Barbwire fences separated the property and in one field, there were several cows grazing and in the one furthest from that were the dead cattle. They got closer and Sam got a good look at the poor animals. They really had been mutilated. There were three cows, laying on their sides with their stomachs slashed open and their insides spilling out onto the grass. Now Sam had seen a few horrible things in his life but this made him want to gag. He turned to Pepper who was already getting her camera ready.

"How can you stand this stuff?" Sam asked, waving a hand at the animals.

"I'm being professional." She replied taking the first picture. "When I'm done I'll throw up."

"Pepper, why don't you just take pictures of celebrities or something?" Sam asked after ten minutes of watching Pepper take pictures.

"Well, because that'd be boring." She replied and grinned at him. "Plus that's a little too easy. It's more...artistic to take photos of things like this."

"Less gross though."

"True." Pepper agreed before taking one last photo.

* * *

By the time they were ready to head back to the motel it was close to 6:00PM and the sky had turned to a low orange tinge, getting darker with each minute. Pepper was already in the passenger seat when Sam was putting her bag into the back of the Impala and that was when his cell rang. He answered it quickly knowing that it would be Dean.

"Yeah?" Sam asked

He figured that Dean was simply calling to find out how much longer they were going to be, and maybe to get them to pick up some dinner on their way back.

"Are you two going to be long?" Dean asked and Sam rolled his eyes. "I think we got a case."

Sam paused, he did not expect that. "Why?" He asked his brother.

"They were saying on the news that there'd been another decapitated body found, which makes three altogether. Thought it was something we should check out."

"Oh, um, well we're about 45 minutes away." Sam replied and got into the drivers seat. "You don't think these bodies have anything to do with the mutilated cattle do you?"

"If not then it's a pretty big coincidence," said Dean. "I'll see you when you get back, oh and get something to eat."

Sam shook his head before he started the car. At least his brother was semi-predictable.

"What's going on?" Pepper asked

"Apparently we've got a case." Sam replied as he drove down the dirt road leading away from the farmhouse. "There are headless bodies and add that with the cows..."

"Dean thinks there's a connection with the two?"

"Be very strange if they weren't."

"And here was me thinking that this was going to be a quiet visit."

* * *

"I can't find anything in the papers about the deaths except that they were decapitated," said Sam.

After he and Pepper had got back (with pizza) they and Dean had begun researching the recent events in the town trying to find some information that could tell them what was going on. Sam sat at the small table with his laptop out in front of him, going over the towns various newspaper articles online.

Pepper was lying at the end of one of the beds with her head hanging off the edge tilting it back and forth to look between Sam and Dean, who was sitting on the ground next to her, his back against the bed while he cleaned his guns. The two of them were finishing off the last few pieces of pizza.

"What exactly were you hoping to find?" Pepper asked.

"Something suspicious." said Dean, taking the last bite of his slice.

"Because headless bodies aren't suspicious enough?" She asked, turning to look at him with a slight questioning frown.

"I was hoping to find something about strange markings on the bodies, or anything peculiar about how they were found." Sam replied. He quickly re-scanned the last article he'd been reading to make sure that he hadn't miss anything.

Pepper rolled over on her stomach and placed her elbows on the mattress so she could rest her chin in her hands. "I doubt they'd put every single information about the murders in the papers." She said thoughtfully. "Besides, you don't have any real proof that something supernatural is going on here."

"Ah," Dean turned his head to look up at her. "I think three decapitated bodies is a bit of a clue."

"Not really, seeing as how a normal, non-possessed human could cut someone's head off. With the right tools of course."

"Oh of course." Dean said and rolled his eyes. After successfully ducking out of Pepper's reach after she tried to hit him he added, "Trust me this has something to do with Demons. It always does." He grinned smugly.

"What about those people you told me about who were hunting other humans for sport?" Pepper pointed out, equally as smug as Dean had been, even more so when Dean's grin fell.

"Okay, well that was just one time that it wasn't supernatural." Dean replied. "Every other time is was"

Pepper rolled her eyes and sighed.

"I can't find anything," Sam said as he closed the lid of his laptop. He turned around, "we're gonna have to take a look at one of the bodies."

"So, fake ID time?" Pepper asked.

Dean turned to her once again and as a mischievous smile spread over his lips he nodded and said, "Fake ID time."

* * *

The next day after breakfast, Dean and Sam left Pepper in the motel room before they headed to the county hospital. They managed to steal some white lab coats to give the impression that they belonged there. After checking the latest victim and finding out all they needed to know, they made their way back to the motel.

Pepper was waiting for them and as soon as they walked in she asked, "So, find anything demonic-y on the body?"

"No, but we found a fang." Dean told her, sitting down beside her on the bed.

"Oh." Pepper nodded and then frowned. "Wait, a fang?"

"The victims are Vampires." Sam replied. "Well, were Vampires."

"So someone's killing Vampires?" Pepper asked slowly. "Is that good?"

"Depends on who killed them." said Sam. "It could be a Vampire hunter or it could be other Vampires or anything really."

"Guess we're gonna be here for a while then."

"Yep." Dean nodded.

Pepper sighed and leaned her head against his shoulder.

"So, what now?" Sam asked his brother.

"We could go out, see if anyone knows anything." Dean suggested. "We passed a pub on the way back." He paused and shrugged the shoulder Pepper wasn't leaning on. "May as well start there first."

"You just want to drink." Pepper muttered.

Dean grinned down at her before turning to Sam with a nod, causing Sam to shake his head.

* * *

It wasn't until the sky had darkened that Dean decided to go to the bar. Instead, they spent the day helping Pepper send her picture negatives to her work. Now it was 6:15PM and Dean and Sam were about to head out of the motel room.

"You not coming, Pepper?" Sam asked when he saw her laying on the bed.

"Depends on what the bar looked like." She replied.

"Ah, dirty, smelly, with a lot of guys smoking and drinking." Dean replied. "So, your standard sleazy bar. Not the place I suggest a pregnant woman go."

Sam frowned, "Didn't we go to the RoadHouse last week?"

"Yes, but Ellen had the power to kick customers out when they refuse to stop smoking around me." Pepper pointed out. "We might not get that kind of luxury any where else."

"Exactly." Dean nodded. "I'll call you before we get back."

"Fine. Have fun," She waved at them. "And try not to drink too much."

"Yeah, Sam-"

"I meant you Dean."

Dean gave a short sarcastic laugh before he opened the door and walked out. Sam smirked and followed him.

* * *

Sam and Dean walked into the bar and headed towards the barman. Dean took a quick look around and noted the various groups of people drinking and smoking.

"Glad Pepper didn't come." Dean said referring to the bad atmosphere, yet his eyes had found an attracted young waitress as she walked past him. He was checking her out but being with Pepper didn't mean he couldn't look. It just meant that he couldn't touch.

"Yeah, I bet." Sam rolled his eyes.

Together they ordered two beers and asked the barman if he had noticed anyone strange in the last few weeks. Even after Sam bribed him with a few bills, he had nothing interesting to tell them. Once they finished their drinks, Sam threw more money down on the bar to pay for them before they got up to leave. Meanwhile in the corner of the place a man sat not once taking his eyes from the brothers.

* * *

Sam and Dean knew that they were being followed. They had known it since they had walked out of the bar, which was why they did not head straight to the Impala. Oh, John had taught them well. They turned down into an empty ally, rounded a corner and then waited for just the right moment before they turned back around and together grabbed the man who had been following them. They roughly pushed the man into the brick wall behind them.

"Smile." Dean demanded.

"What?" asked the man

"Show us those pearly whites," said Dean, sticking a knife against the man's throat.

"Oh for the love of - You wanna stick that thing some place else?" The man asked Dean. "I'm not a Vampire."

Dean and Sam both hesitated before the man showed them that he did in fact have no fangs. When they realized that he wasn't lying they let him go and stepped back.

"Now, who the hell are you?" He asked them.

"Never mind us, who the hell are you?" Dean demanded.

The man looked at Dean long and hard before he smiled. "I'm a hunter. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to get to my car."

"Ah...sure." Dean replied slowly.

The man moved away from the wall and began heading down the ally. Sam and Dean shared a wary look before they followed him. It didn't take them long to fall into step with this older hunter.

"Name's Gordon, by the way." said the Hunter, just as his car came into view. He continued walking until he was in front of the vehicle. "And you are?" He asked, turning to face them.

"I'm Dean, this is my brother Sam." Dean replied quickly, tilting his head to the side indicating his brother beside him.

"Winchester?' Gordon asked, a smile spreading across his face.

"Yeah." Sam slowly answered.

"Sam and Dean Winchester? I can't believe it." Gordon continued to smile. "You know I met your dad once. Hell of a guy. Great Hunter, and from what I hear you two aren't too bad yourselves. Great trackers, good in a tight spot."

"You seem to know a lot about our family," said Dean suspiciously. Maybe this Gordon knew a little too much about them and that wouldn't be good.

"Well word travels fast. You know how Hunter's talk."

"No we don't actually," said Dean, looking back at Sam.

"Well last I heard you dad was right on the tale of a big hunt."

"You heard anything since then?" asked Sam.

Dean looked at his brother with confusion for a moment and wondered where he was heading with these questions.

"Not for month's now." said Gordon. "Like I said, last I heard he was hunting."

"Right, so um, those Vampires they were yours?" Sam asked, quickly changing the subject.

"Yep." Gordon nodded proudly. "Been here two weeks."

"Do you know where the nest is?" asked Dean

Gordon smiled, "I got this one covered. Look don't get me wrong, it's a real pleasure meeting you fellows. But I've been on this thing for over a year. I killed a fang back in Austin, tracked the nest all the way up here. I'll finish this."

"We could help." Dean casually suggested.

"Thanks," Gordon nodded before opening his car door. "But, ah, I'm kind of a go-it-alone type of guy."

"Whoa man, I've been itching for a hunt," said Dean.

Sam looked at his brother and wondered if that was true. They had plenty of hunts since leaving Bobby's so they weren't in any dry spell but maybe Dean just needed to see this one finished before they moved on. It wasn't like either of them to leave anything half finished. Sam briefly wondered if Dean could ever really stop Hunting all together, even when the baby finally arrived, or if he would still go out and keep doing it because really, Hunting was like a drug that refused to be let go. Sam could even feel it sometimes, which was probably why he had tried so hard to find some sort of supernatural connection to the murders.

Gordon got into his car and shook his head. "Sorry. It was good meeting you though. I'll buy you a drink on the flip side."

With that, Gordon drove off. Sam and Dean stayed where they were until Gordon's car was no longer in sight then Dean turned slowly to Sam and frowned.

"Why'd you ask him if he's heard anything about us since the Demon?"

"Ah, I just wanted to know what else he knew." replied Sam. "There's just something about him that...well, I just wanted to see if he knew about me and the Demon, and if he knew about Pepper and the baby."

"How the hell would he know about that?" Dean asked sharply.

"I don't know." Sam shrugged. "The same way he knew about everything else."

"He heard about us through other Hunters." Dean explained shaking his head slightly. "So unless Dad, Bobby or Ellen have been blurting out that Pep's pregnant every chance they get, I doubt he knows anything."

Dean turned and headed back towards where they had left the Impala.

"What did you mean, there's something about him?" Dean asked. "He seemed alright to me."

"I don't know." Sam replied. "If we see him again are you going to tell him about Pepper?"

Dean stopped in his tracks and looked over at Sam. He frowned and raised one brow slightly. "Why in the world would I do that?" He asked. "The fact that Pepper is having my baby is not something that I want the entire Hunting community to find out about. I mean, come on man, you know what kind of people do this job. How many of them would you trust to tell?"

"Um, I guess just Dad, Bobby and Ellen." Sam replied.

They got into the Impala and Dean quickly started the engine.

"How are we going to help Gordon, if he doesn't want our help?" Sam asked as he turned to face Dean.

Dean shrugged, "Can't hurt to look."

* * *

It didn't take the Winchesters long to find Gordon in an old mill just outside of town. When they got there, Gordon was into the middle of a serious fight with a large, well built male Vampire...and losing. It was a good thing that Dean and Sam had turned up because otherwise Gordon would have been killed.

Sam had pulled Gordon to safety while Dean managed to kill the Vampire by sawing off his head. Dean didn't need to think about this, it was simply instinct from years of Hunting. Dean looked down at the body and breathed heavily trying to calm his heart rate after that fight. He turned to look up at Sam and Gordon. Gordon was looking rather pleased to see the Vampire dead and offered to buy both boys a beer. Sam on the other hand was a little bit shocked and the aggressiveness Dean showed when he killed the Vampire.

They had left the mill and followed Gordon back to the bar. As Dean drove, he used an old shirt left in the back to wipe the Vampires blood from his face.

* * *

The bar was busy but Gordon managed to find them an empty table. As he promised, Gordon bought the first round of beers and then ordered a round of shots. When the waitress handed them their shots, Dean sat forward in his seat and reached into his pocket for his wallet to pay but Gordon held a hand up to stop him.

"No, no. I got it." Gordon assured Dean, with a grin.

"Come on," Dean offered going for his wallet again but Gordon shook his head and paid for the new drinks.

Dean sat back and smiled. He was never one to turn down a free drink when it was offered and he really didn't care if Gordon bought him two or fifty drinks, but hey at least he had offered to buy one drink.

After the waitress had gone, Gordon turned to Dean and grinned as he lifted his shot glass high in the air. "Another one bites the dust."

Dean grinned back and lifted up his own glass. "That's right."

As Dean and Gordon hit their glasses together, Sam sat back in his chair with his arms folded. To passer-bys, he probably looked quiet bored, which he was actually. For one he wasn't in the mood for drinking and for another he didn't see the point in celebrating that his brother had managed to kill something. He'd much rather head back to the motel and hang out with Pepper.

"Dean, you gave that big ass fang one hell of a haircut, my friend." Gordon laughed.

"Thank you." Dean grinned in triumph. He drank down half of his beer then noticed Sam's demeanor from the corner of his eye. "You alright, Sammy?"

"Yeah. Fine." Came Sam's very short reply.

"Well lighten up a little, Sammy." Gordon said on another short laugh.

Sam turned towards Gordon with a sharp look in his eyes. "He's the only one who gets to call me that." He strongly informed Gordon, as he gestured towards Dean.

"Okay," Gordon threw his hands up in defense and smiled. "No offence meant. Just celebrating a little. Job well done."

"Yeah well, um, decapitations aren't my idea of a good time." Sam snarked. "I guess."

"Oh come on man. It's not like it was human." said Gordon, still trying to convince Sam to lighten his mood. "You gotta have a little more fun with your job."

Dean clicked his fingers then pointed at Sam. He grinned and nodded in agreement, at what Gordon was saying. "See, that's what I've been trying to tell him for years." He looked at Sam and continued, "You could learn a thing or two from this guy."

"Yeah, I bet I could." Sam replied with just that little hint of sarcasm. "Look, I'm not gonna bring you guys down. I'm just gonna go back to the motel.'

Sam stood up slowly from his chair. He really had had enough of Gordon and had only stayed as long as he had because he didn't want to walk back to the motel, which meant that he needed to wait for Dean, but now he decided that walking would be better than sticking around.

"You sure?" Dean asked.

"Yeah."

"Want the keys?"

"No, I'll walk. Fresh air will do me good." Sam gave Dean a quick smile, ignoring Gordon before he headed out of the bar.

Dean turned back to Gordon and shrugged.

"Something I said?" Gordon asked.

"Nah," Dean shook his head. "Nah, he just gets that way sometimes."

* * *

Sam waited until he was far enough from the bar that he could no longer hear the sound of the jukebox or the roaring of engines before he pulled out his cell and called Pepper's number. She answered on the first ring, which she had started to do ever since she had joined them on the road. Well, she only did this when she was left in the motel room in case there was an emergency.

"Hey, Pepper." Sam sighed. Glad to be away from the bar.

"Sammy, is everything alright?"

"Yeah. How about you?"

"I'm fine. Are you two finished?"

"Yes, I'm on my way back." Sam replied.

"Alone? Where the hell's Dean?" Pepper asked, starting to panic.

"He's having a drink at the bar." Sam quickly assured her. He knew that a stressed out pregnant woman was not a good thing.

"He's drinking at a bar alone?" Pepper slowly asked.

"No, he's with this Hunter we met, Gordon."

"Oh." Pepper paused and then asked, "how come you're not with them?"

Sam shrugged even though Pepper couldn't see him. "I didn't really feel like celebrating. Look, um, I'm heading back so I just thought I'd call to let you know."

"Alright, I'll see you soon."

Sam smiled as he let out a breath and hung up the phone.

There were times, like now, that Sam was glad to have Pepper with them. It was a nice change to have someone else to talk to when Dean wanted to go off and do something that he didn't. Sam was still getting used to waking up and seeing Dean and Pepper sleeping in the same bed, mostly because it reminded him that while Dean had finally found someone to be close with, Sam was way off from that.

As Sam got closer to the motel, he began to let his mind wonder to what life will be like once the baby was born. Dean and Pepper still didn't have a lot of the details figured out besides the fact that they were going to stay at Bobby's, and Sam didn't know where he would fit in with their plans. In truth, he was a little nervous but at the same time, he was excited. Since he had had some time to think about it, Sam was beginning to look forward to having a baby nephew or niece.

Sam remembered what he had said to Pepper while they were back at Bobby's, about being glad that she was the one who was carrying Dean's child. That statement was very true and he had not just said it to make her feel better. Sam really didn't think he would enjoy having Pepper around if she was just another random, idiotic college drunk that his brother picked up from a bar.

* * *

When Sam walked into the motel, he found Pepper sitting cross-legged on her bed. She was watching the small television while munching on a bag of dried bananas. When she heard Sam open the door, she turned the TV off and looked at him with a warm smile. Sam smiled back as he dropped down heavily onto the other bed with a sigh.

"Want to tell me what happened?" Pepper asked, as she moved to sit opposite him.

"There's not much to tell," said Sam. "Dean killed a Vampire, so he and Gordon are celebrating by drinking."

"And you're not with them because...?"

"I just don't see the point in celebrating the fact that Dean managed to be-head a Vamp."

"I thought that killing a Vampire was a good thing." Pepper replied.

"It is." Sam agreed. "Normally, anyway. There's just something about this entire hunt that I don't get. I mean, how come there are no non-vampire bodies around?" He asked, mostly just thinking aloud. "The three bodies we did find were all Vampires, well according to Gordon."

Pepper frowned as she noticed Sam's distaste for this other Hunter. "What is it about this guy that you don't like?"

"I guess there's not really an actual reason," Sam replied. "Not a main one, anyway. It's just a bunch of little things."

"Such as?"

"Well, he called me 'Sammy' and I don't really like it when people besides Dean and Dad call me that."

"You let me call you 'Sammy'." Pepper pointed out.

"Well I don't really let you, Pepper, you just do it."

"You could ask me to stop."

"Yeah..."

Pepper smiled, "Never even occurred to you to ask did it?"

"No actually it didn't." Sam replied and slowly smiled back at her. "I guess I like it that you only call me 'Sammy'. Even Dad and Dean use 'Sam' more than anything else."

"Good. But just so you know I probably wouldn't stop even if you ask me too."

"No, I didn't expect you would."

"So, tell me more about this Gordon."

"You know, I just...I don't like his attitude." Sam replied. "He thinks I should have more fun with the job."

"In what way?" Pepper asked, slightly confused.

"Um, how many ways is there?" asked Sam.

"Well, does he mean you should take more pleasure in helping the people that you do? Or does he mean that you should have more fun in killing things?"

"He and Dean are in a bar drinking to the fact that Dean cut of a Vampire's head, so I'd say it's the latter."

"Well that's just dumb," said Pepper, as she folder her arms over her chest.

"You don't agree then?"

"Sammy, hunting Demons isn't supposed to be fun. You don't do it because it's fun. You do it because it needs to be done."

"Did Bobby teach you that?" Sam asked. He was intrigued by how passionately she was on this subject.

She shrugged, "I guess so. I mean, I don't know many Hunters but the ones I do know didn't get into the job by choice. There's always something...like the death of your mother."

"Yeah..." Sam sighed and took a moment to think of his mother and the YED. "I guess Dean is on the same wave length as Gordon though. He seemed pretty happy when I left them."

"That's because Dean likes to think that all Hunters are good people like your father." Pepper explained. "Give it time though. If this Gordon guy is like you say then once this hunt is over we'll all leave and Dean will have nothing else to do with the guy."

"I guess."

"Trust me, Sammy. I know Dean."

Sam smirked, "Yeah I know."

Sometimes Sam forgot that Dean and Pepper had actually known each other for years, until he watched them while they were hanging out. They knew so much about one another that only came from spending a lot of time together. Sam wished that he had that with someone too.

"I don't suppose you've ever hear Bobby mention Gordon before?" Sam asked a couple of minutes later. "Gordon mentioned that he met dad so maybe he's met Bobby too."

"Well, he never mentioned him to me." Pepper replied thoughtfully. "But then again, Granddad didn't really talk about other Hunters around me. The only other Hunter I knew about was Ellen. Until I met Dean."

"I would have thought that with the amount of time you spend at the RoadHouse, that you would have been surrounded by Hunters?"

"Not so much. See if I was there, Ellen would pretty much let Jo and I hang out back unless the place was quiet." She explained. "Which annoyed Jo a bit because she loved going out and talking with everyone but we managed to have fun."

"Hey, do you think that Bobby would have gotten as mad as he did when he found out you were pregnant if Dean wasn't a hunter?"

Pepper paused and thought a bit about this.

"I don't think so. He's always been a bit over protective with me. Especially about boys so I think he would have been just as angry either way."

Sam nodded.

"Now, what are we going to do about Gordon?"

"I don't know, but I do want to find out more about him. Maybe we should call Dad and Bobby."

"Okay, get me my phone from the table and I'll call Granddad while you call John."

Sam nodded and after getting Pepper's cell for her, he sat back on the bed and dialed his father's number. At the same time, Pepper called Bobby. Pepper let her phone ring for a few moments before she shook her head and lowered her phone.

"Granddad's not answering." She informed Sam. "John picking up?"

Sam waited for several moments but when his father's voicemail started, he shook his head and placed his phone back into his pocket.

"He must be on a hunt." He stated. After a moment he added, "How come Bobby didn't answer? I mean as protective as he is of you I would have thought that he'd always want to answer your calls in case you had an emergency."

"Well, Granddad has a different phone for that."

"He does?"

"Ah ha. Kind of like how he has all those phones to help you boys when you're impersonating different agencies." Pepper answered with a grin. "He has another cell which only rings if something has happened to me so he knows that it's important. It has a special ring tone and everything, and only Dean and I have the number for it."

"Bobby gave Dean the number?"

"No I did, years ago but since Dean never needed to use it he never knew that he'd met Granddad before."

"Wow." Sam sighed. "You think I could get the number? I mean in case something happens and I need to reach Bobby quickly."

Pepper nodded, "I can put it in your phone later if you like."

"Thanks. Do you think Ellen might know Gordon?"

"Can't hurt to ask." Pepper nodded in agreement.

Sam once again took out his cell and quickly found the number for the RoadHouse. He didn't have to wait long for Ellen to pick up.

"Harvelle's RoadHouse." Ellen said.

"Hey Ellen, it's, ah, Sam Winchester."

"Sam," Ellen sighed happily. "It's good to hear from you. You lot okay aren't ya?" She asked. Sam knew that while Ellen might be a little interested in him and Dean, her question was directed mostly towards Pepper.

"Yeah we're all okay."

"And how's Pepper?" Ellen asked simply to get more details.

"Hi, Ellen!" Pepper shouted out so that Ellen would know she was close to Sam.

"Ah, hold on Ellen, I'll put you on speaker..." said Sam before he switched the phone to speaker and held it out between himself and Pepper. "Okay go."

"Hey, Pepper." Ellen greeted her warmly, "How are you feeling?"

"There are good days and bad days." Pepper replied.

"Them boys treating you okay?"

"Oh don't worry about them Ellen. I can keep them both in line." Pepper replied and grinned at Sam.

Sam grinned back, because she really could keep them both in line, sometimes with nothing more than a look.

"I'm sure you can." Ellen agreed with amusement.

"Ellen, we, ah called because we're got a question." said Sam, turning a little more serious.

"Yeah, shoot." said Ellen.

"You ever run across a guy named Gordon Walker?"

* * *

After talking with Ellen, Sam and Pepper decided to take her advice and leave Gordon to do his thing alone. She was very insistent that they not trust him and neither Sam nor Pepper were going to argue with her. Sam had suggested that Pepper get ready to leave while he goes to get Dean. Sam would call Dean, but he wasn't sure if that would tip Gordon off or not. Sam began to wish that he'd taken the Impala so that he didn't have to walk back to the bar.

Sam started to feel uneasy as he walked, like the feeling of someone (or something) following you. He began seeing just the slightest of movements out of the corner of his eye. After a while, he was beginning to hear noises as well. Something that sounded like a shift in the gravel under someone's foot and Sam knew that he couldn't ignore it, that someone was following him.

Sam made a move to turn towards his assailant but they were too quick for him. The Vampire, or what Sam guessed was a Vampire, swung his arm to hit Sam but he ducked and managed to elbow the Vamp in the face. The Vampire stumbled backwards and while Sam was focused on the first Vampire, a second one came up behind him. Sam was hit on the back of the head and fell to the ground. Things around him began to fade as he was falling into unconsciousness.

As Sam passed out his first thoughts were of Pepper, and he hoped that she would be safe. Then he thought of Dean and hoped that the Vampires hadn't already gotten to him.

* * *

Dean and Gordon had moved from the bar to Gordon's motel room across the other side of town. Conveniently they were staying at different motels. Even if Dean was going to be working with this guy still didn't mean that he'd want him knowing about Pepper and the baby. Since Dean had saved him from that Vampire, Gordon had agreed to let the Winchesters help him on this hunt.

Gordon pulled up out a map of the town and spread it out across the small table in the room before he sat down in a chair. Dean moved to sit opposite him and looked down at the map. Gordon made quick work of showing Dean the places of the map where he thought the Vampires nest might be.

"This is the best pattern I can establish." Gordon explained. "It's sketchy at best."

"Looks like it's all coming from this side of town..." Dean murmured, looking across the map. "Means the nest should be around here some place, right?"

"Yep, that's what I'm thinkin'." Gordon agreed. "Problem is there's thirty-five, forty farms out there. I've searched about half of them already but nothing yet. They're covering their tracks real good."

"Then I'll guess we'll just have to search the other half." Dean suggested before looking up and grinning. A moment later, he looked down at his watch, "what time is it? I should probably get back-"

"-It's still early." Gordon replied. "And I'm sure Sam's doing fine."

"Yeah, probably." Dean agreed off handily.

It wasn't Sam that Dean was worried about. Even though he knew that Sam was with Pepper, it didn't stop him from worrying about her. Hell he even worried about her when they were at Bobby's and all because he was becoming over protective of her and the baby.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. Gordon gestured that it was okay for Dean to answer it since he was the one closer to the door. Dean stood up and checked the peephole. He was surprised to see Sam standing on the other side especially seeing as how he was meant to be back at the motel with Pepper.

Dean opened the door quickly and fought the urge to yell at his brother for not being where he should be.

"What are you doing here, Sammy?" Dean asked, his voice a little stern.

"Ah, can I talk to you, alone?" Sam asked ignoring the tone in his brother's voice.

Dean looked at him for a moment, trying to see if his brother was here because something serious was happening with Pepper, but then Sam would have called first and he would be as calm as he was being.

Dean turned around and gave a short nod to Gordon. "Mind chillin' out for a couple of minutes?"

Gordon shrugged, clearly not caring either way and went back to looking over the map.

* * *

Sam led Dean down a short pathway just to the left of Gordon's motel room.

"Sam, what are you doing here?" Dean demanded as soon as Sam had stopped walking. "And why the hell aren't you with Pepper?"

"I was with her, and before you ask she's fine." Sam quickly replied. "I'm here because I think that we should re-think this hunt."

"What are you talking about? What happened?"

"I was...in the nest."

"You found it?" Dean asked, with a hint of excitement in his voice.

"They found me, man."

"Well, how'd you get out?" asked Dean. "How many you kill?"

"None."

"Well, Sam they didn't just let you go."

"That's exactly what they did."

"Well, where is it?"

Sam shrugged and looked away. "I was blind-folded, I don't know."

"You gotta know something."

"We went over that bridge outside of town, but Dean listen," Sam said quickly. "Maybe we shouldn't go after them."

Dean tilted his head in confusion. "Why not?" He demanded.

"I don't think they're like other Vampires." Sam explained. "I don't think they're killing people."

"You're joking... Then how do they stay alive? Or undead, or whatever the hell they are?" Dean demanded, already getting sick of whatever Sam was trying to get at.

"The cattle mutilations, the one's Pepper was taking photos of. The Vampire's told me that they live off of animal blood."

"And you believed them?" Dean asked in disbelief.

"Look at me, Dean." Sam held his arms out, "they let me go without a scratch."

"What...so you're saying..." Dean began but quickly trailed off. He just couldn't get his head around the possibility that Vampires are good. "No man, no way. I don't know why they let you go. I don't really care, but we find them, we waste them."

"Why?" Sam asked.

Dean scoffed in disbelief, annoyed at the stupidity of his baby brother.

"What part of Vampires don't you understand, Sam? If it's supernatural, we kill it. End of story." Dean said angrily. "That's our job."

"No, Dean that is not our job." Sam's voiced raised slightly in anger. "Our job is hunting evil, and if these things aren't killing people they're not evil."

"Of course they're killing people! That's what they do. They're all the same, Sam. They're not human. Okay? We have to exterminate every last one of them."

"No, Dean. I don't think so, all right. Not this time."

Dean shook his head, "Gordon's been on those Vamps for a year, man. He knows."

"Gordon?" Sam asked.

"Yes."

"You're taking his word for it?"

"That's right." Dean nodded smartly in reply.

"Ellen says he's bad news."

Dean faulted, "You called Ellen?" He asked with one brow arched up in surprise. "Why should we listen to her? She's not even here. No thanks, I'll go with Gordon."

"After everything Ellen's done for us, for Pepper, especially over these last couple of months, and you'd rather trust Gordon, who we just met over her? I'll go with Ellen." Sam replied firmly. "She says we shouldn't trust him."

"Yeah well, Ellen has a tendency to not like a lot of Hunters." Dean replied. "Pep, recons that she doesn't like dad either. You ever notice how neither of them really say anything about the other? Maybe Ellen just has a problem with them because they didn't pay their tabs or something."

"And what about Pepper?"

"What about her?" Dean frowned. "What has she got to do with this?"

"Ah, everything. She's involved in everything we do now, and she trusts Ellen's word. Shouldn't that be good enough for you?" Sam asked before pausing for a brief moment. "I mean, you're the one who didn't want to tell Gordon about the baby."

Dean wanted to say something to that but couldn't think of the right words. Yes, he didn't want Gordon to know about Pepper or the baby but he really hadn't thought about her being involved in this. To him, hunting Vampires with Gordon and Pepper and the baby were separate things.

"Look, none of that matters." Dean finally snapped. "Vampires are Vampires and I'm not going to let them go."

"Dean, we just went through this." Sam let out a frustrated sigh. "I'm not saying that we should forget going after all Vampires. Just not these ones. I don't understand why you just can't let this go--"

"--Because I don't want Vampires or any other demonic creatures out there when my child is growing up!" Dean snapped. His eyes bright with anger.

Sam opened his mouth stunned. He tried to say something but couldn't begin to formulate any kind of sentence. They had all known about the baby for a while now, but this was really the first time that Dean had voiced an actual fear for the child. Sure, he mentioned a few times that he was worried for Pepper and the baby now but he'd never said anything about after the baby was born.

Dean shook his head, signaling that he didn't want to talk about it anymore and spun around before slowly heading back towards Gordon's hotel room. Sam stayed where he was, just watching Dean for several minutes. It wasn't until Dean was half way up the stairs towards the motel door that Sam finally moved.

"Dean..." Sam began and followed his brother.

Dean ignored him and walked right into the now empty hotel room. Gordon was nowhere to be seen.

Dean frowned, "Gordon?" he called out.

"You think he went after them?" Sam asked, moving to stand behind Dean.

"Probably."

"Dean, we have to stop him. Please," Sam pleaded. "You know I wouldn't ask if I didn't think we needed too."

Dean thought for a brief moment and looked intently at Sam. He took in a quick breath and exhaled sharply.

"I know." Dean admitted. "Okay, but this doesn't change my mind."

Sam nodded while Dean headed back towards the door, pulling his cell out of his pocket on the way. When Sam followed, Dean was waiting just a few steps away from the door. Dean reached into his other pocket and pulled out his keys.

"Start the car; I'll be there in a sec." Dean tossed the keys to Sam.

Sam looked down at the keys in his hands in confusion.

"Why, what are you gonna...." Sam trailed off when he saw Dean raise his phone to his ear.

Sam nodded shortly and quickly made his way to the Impala. Sam was smart but you did not have to be a genius to figure out that Dean was calling Pepper.

Pepper had answered the phone so quickly that Dean wondered if she had been holding the phone in her hand when it had rang.

"Dean?" She answered breathlessly.

"Hey," he replied softly and made a mental note to make sure not to stress her out like this again.

Pepper let out a long sigh. "Oh, are you okay? Did Sammy find you? Did he tell you about Gordon?" She asked in one long rush.

"Yeah, Sam told me."

"So, are we leaving?"

"There's something that we need to do first." He told her while rubbing a hand over one brow trying to ease the tension he was beginning to feel. "But we'll come and get you as soon as we're done. Just stay there and keep the door locked and--"

"--I know, Dean." Pepper reassured him.

He sighed. Of course, she knew, she had grown up with Bobby Singer for a grandfather. If anyone knew how to stay safe and hidden it was Pepper, but that didn't mean that Dean had to stop asking every now and then.

"Right." Dean closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. "Look I gotta go. Be safe."

"You too."

Dean hung up the phone, stuffed it back into his pocket and walked towards Sam and the Impala. By the time he got there, Sam had already started the engine and was sitting behind the wheel. Dean gestured for Sam to move over to the passenger seat and as Sam slid across the seat, Dean got in behind the wheel.

It was obvious to Dean that his little brother wanted to talk about what he had just confessed but thankfully, for Dean, Sam kept his mouth shut and instead had pulled out a map from the glove compartment.

* * *

Dean and Sam found Gordon, at the Vampire's farmhouse (the same one they had taken Sam too) and he was in the middle of torturing the leader, Lenore. Dean had a gun pointed at Gordon, and no matter how much Gordon tried to convince him that she deserved to die, Dean didn't lower his gun for an instant.

Lenore even refused to drink Sam's blood when it was offered, or well forced to her. Dean was shocked at this. He never really thought that something like that would or could change what they were but apparently, this Vampire and her family did. Dean took his eyes off the Vampire when he remembered that he needed to keep an eye on Gordon.

"We're done here." Sam told Gordon.

"Sam, get her out of here." Dean instructed, without taking his eyes off Gordon.

"Yeah." Sam nodded.

Sam bent down and scooped Lenore up in his arms before he carried her past Dean and to the front door. Gordon made a move towards Sam, but Dean raised his gun higher, aiming it at Gordon's head.

"Ah, ah, ah." Dean warned making the other Hunter know that he wouldn't hesitate to shot if he tried to hurt his brother. "Gordon, I think you and I have got some things to talk about."

Slowly, Dean moved around the large table that blocked his path to Gordon. His gun was still aimed and at the ready. Gordon moved closer, his eyes sharp and a knife waiting in his hand. Dean knew that Gordon was pissed but he still wanted to give the man a chance to resolve this with a mature conversation...of sorts.

"Get out of my way." Gordon said. His voice strangely calm.

Dean half-shrugged one shoulder, "sorry."

"You're not serious?"

"I'm having a hard time believing it too, but I know what I saw." Dean replied, standing his ground. "If you want those Vampires, you gotta go through me."

Gordon sighed and looked at the knife in his hand. Dean's grip tightened on his gun. Gordon suddenly and forcefully stabbed the knife into the top of the table. Dean watched him wearily, unsure of his next move.

"Fine." Gordon agreed.

Dean hesitated for a second and then he took the clip out of his gun. If Gordon was going to fight barehanded then so was he. Dean always tried to fight fare unless the circumstances called otherwise. Right now, there was no need for any dirty fighting on Dean's part. Sure, Gordon seemed more and more like a complete nut case as the seconds ticked by but he was still a fellow Hunter and to Dean, that earned him a fare fight.

As Dean moved to place his gun into his pocket, Gordon lunged at him and punched him in the face. When Dean came back up, he took a swing himself. He managed to send Gordon stumbling backwards but Gordon was the able to re-grab his knife. That was really the final straw as far as Dean was concern. From now on, Gordon deserved everything he got.

Gordon took a couple of swings at Dean with the knife but missed each time. On the last attempt, Dean grabbed Gordon's arm, sending the older man hard into the wall. After a few hits against the wall, Dean managed to loosen the knife from Gordon's grip. It fell to the floor but neither man was prepared to move to get it.

"What're you doing man?" Gordon demanded. "You doing this for a fang?" He suddenly had the upper hand, gripping on tightly to Dean's arms and stopping him from throwing another punch. "Come on, Dean. We're on the same side here."

"I don't think so, you sadistic bastard." Dean sneered.

Gordon head butted Dean and then elbowed him in the face. While Dean was bent over slightly in pain, Gordon kicked him and sent him crashing into a coffee table in the middle of the next room. Dean attempted to get back up but found himself struggling as Gordon came closer.

"You're not like you brother." said Gordon, sounding as if he knew for sure that this was true even though he'd only just met the Winchesters. "You're a killer. Like me."

Anger flared up in Dean's eyes. Just as Gordon came close enough, Dean swung his legs out and kicked Gordon's legs out from under him, successfully sending Gordon to the ground. Dean quickly jumped up and punched Gordon as hard as he could, twice in the face. Then Dean dragged Gordon up off the floor and threw him against the wall. Gordon attempted to get in another hit, but couldn't because the fight was obviously beginning to catch up with him. This gave Dean all of the power.

Dean punched him a couple more times, then he took a hold of Gordon and slammed his head into another wall. He felt Gordon go limp against him so he moved back into the dining room, banging him into the wall a few times on the way. Dean forcefully sat Gordon down in one of the chairs. Thankfully, Gordon was too close to passing out to move from where Dean had placed him. Dean found some ropes in Gordon's bag and used them to tie him securely to the chair.

"You know," Dean began softly yet with a sharp edge to his voice as he spoke into Gordon's ear while he made sure the robes were secure. "I might enjoy this life. And I might be a little more adapt to it than Sammy. Heck, I might even enjoy the things I do, the things I stop. But I will never be just a killer. And I sure as hell won't ever become anything like you."

Dean pulled back and stood up, glaring down at Gordon. Gordon was looking back at him with a haze-covered gaze. Dean shook his head in disgust before he started pacing the room waiting for Sam's return. Not once did he take his eyes from Gordon, even while his mind raced with different thoughts.

This hunt had really shake Dean and that didn't often happen, or well not usually this bad unless it involved his family. This had started as such a simple job but then Gordon had to complicate everything. The only thing Dean could think of, was what if he did turn out like Gordon? What if this job took over him and he no longer cared about right and wrong? He didn't want to be that person but feared that he may not have a choice in the matter.

When he had killed that Vampire at the Mill he had most definitely enjoyed it. It felt good to be giving pain to a creature that at the time Dean believed to have been a killer. He should have hesitated, if even for a mille-second and not because he should start feeling compassion for such creatures (the bad ones anyway) but because he should think about these things. If all he did was go straight out into a hunt just for the kill then he'd seal his fate and there would be no going back from the same path that Gordon was on.

Dean knew that a large part of his way of thinking was due to his up bringing, not that he was blaming his father for it, but this is what he had been taught and from such a young age as well. Dean inwardly sighed. He didn't want to be like that. He was going to be a father soon, and he wanted and needed to create a safe environment for his child. He wanted, more than anything for his child to actually have a chance at a normal childhood. Something he himself was denied. He wanted so many things for this baby, yet deep down he feared that no matter how much he wanted these things he wouldn't be able to make them happen.

He knew that he needed to stop thinking this way but no matter how hard he tried; he could not seem to take his mind off these thoughts.

* * *

The Sun rose in the sky and Dean heard the unmistakable sound of the Impala outside. He looked down at Gordon while waiting for Sam to enter. When Sam walked in, he stepped up close behind Dean and looked down at Gordon. He wasn't really that surprised to find them like this with them both bruised but with Dean, the one not tied to a chair. Sam would forever have faith in his brother when it came to things like this and much more.

"I miss anything?" Sam asked, though he didn't really expect much of an answer.

"Eh, not much." Dean replied. "Lenore get out okay?"

"Yeah, all of them did." Sam replied while staring intently at Gordon.

Gordon finally looked up at Sam and glared but didn't say anything.

"Then I guess our work here is done." Dean said, with a forced smile.

Dean knew that he should feel happy that everything worked out in their favor but his mind was still worked up over the possibility that Gordon had been right, and that he was just like him.

Dean looked down at Gordon and said, "Get comfy. We'll call someone in two or three days. Have them come out. Untie you..."

"Ready to go, Dean?" Sam asked

Dean shook his head slightly. "Not yet. I guess this is goodbye." He sighed, trying to think of what to say. Finally, he just shrugged before hitting Gordon under his chin, sending the chair crashing backwards to the floor and knocking Gordon out. Well, actions always spoke louder than words anyway.

Sam made a quite noise of approval in the back of his throat, only regretting that he didn't get to throw in a punch.

Dean turned towards him and nodded. "Okay." He said calmly. "I'm good now. We can go."

* * *

Sam and Dean walked down the steps of the old farmhouse, and then Sam led the way over to the Impala. Dean had become eerily silent as he got into the car.

"Um, Pepper's waiting for us back at the motel." Sam said, hoping to gage his brother in some sort of conversation. Any conversation would be good because Sam could tell that something had gone on between Dean and Gordon (besides the fight) and whatever it was, was really getting to Dean.

"Good." Dean said simply.

Sam frowned. He wasn't going to push Dean on this because that really wouldn't get him anywhere. Sam briefly wondered if he could get Pepper to talk to Dean. It seemed like she knew a lot about his brother, even things that he didn't and if Dean were going to talk to anyone about anything, it would be her.

Sam leaned back against his seat and let the silence fill the car as they drove back to their motel.

* * *

When they arrived back at the motel, Pepper was waiting anxiously for them outside with all of their bags ready to be loaded into the trunk. Dean sighed, relieved that she was there and okay. He parked the Impala in the closes available spot and then got out of the car. Dean winced slightly when Pepper frowned in concern. He'd almost forgotten that he probably looked like hell. When he walked over to Pepper, she reached up and gently traced her fingers over his bruised face.

"Dean, what happened?" She asked.

"It looks worse than it feels." Dean lied and closed his eyes against her calming touch.

"And Gordon?" Pepper asked and lowered her hand.

Dean opened his eyes, "He's tied up. Someone will find him in a few days but by then we'll be long gone."

Sam stood silently beside them and tried to think of an excuse to leave so that they could talk. Then he noticed all the bags by Pepper's feet.

"I'll, ah; I'll start taking these to the car." He announced gesturing with one hand at the bags.

Pepper smiled towards him and nodded her thanks. Sam could tell that she had also picked up that there was something going on with Dean. Dean remained silent and watched as Sam picked up two of their four bags. But before Sam was even standing up straight again, Dean spoke.

"I'm sorry we took this job," said Dean suddenly to the surprise of the others. "I wish we never did. It's jacked everything up."

Sam paused with a frown. He lowered the bags back to the ground and stood up properly. "What do you mean?" He asked.

Dean shook his head and turned his gaze from Pepper to Sam, who had moved to stand beside her.

"Think about all the hunts we went on, Sammy." Dean began. "Our whole lives. What if we killed things that didn't deserve killing? I mean, the way dad raised us, it's..." He trailed off with a deep sigh.

"Dean, after what happened to you mother...I'm sure John did the best he could."

"I know he did." Dean agreed, looking back at Pepper. "The man's not perfect. And the way he raised us, to hate those things, and man I hate 'em." Dean shifted his eyes down to the bags unable to look at Pepper or Sam and then he continued. "When I killed that Vampire at the Mill I didn't even think about it. Hell I even enjoyed it." He looked back up and shook his head sadly, "I don't want to be like that."

"You didn't kill Lenore." Sam pointed out. "Gordon was going to, but you stopped him."

"No, but every instinct told me to." Dean admitted. "I was gonna kill her. I was gonna kill them all. So tell me...what makes me any better than Gordon?"

"You stopped." Pepper answered. "You didn't kill Lenore when you could have. You went against everything you've been trained to do even if at the time it didn't feel right. That is what makes you different. That's what makes you a thousand times better than Gordon Walker."

"You showed mercy, Dean." Sam added. "Gordon never would."

"I hope you're right." Dean muttered, mostly to himself than to them. "I don't want to become like ... that. I don't want this job to consume me."

"Dean, you've never had a problem with what we do before." Sam frowned. "I mean, you've always said that this life isn't what you want to be doing years from now, but you've never seemed this worried about it."

"True," Dean sighed. "But I was never gonna be a father before."

"Oh," Pepper let out a breath. Once again, she reached out and gently stroked Dean's cheek with her fingers. "You shouldn't be worried about that. I'm not. You're going to be a great father to our baby."

"Yeah, sure." Dean muttered sadly.

He had wanted to believe that, and he would do his best to try but there was a chance that his best wouldn't be good enough and he would fail miserably.

"She's right, Dean. You will be a good dad." Sam said, interrupting Dean's thoughts.

"Yeah, well at least I have you two looking out for me." Dean nodded. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." Sam smiled. He bent back down and grabbed the bags. "It's a good thing you're stuck with us." He gave Dean a quick reassuring nod before he walked down to the car,

Pepper lightly ran the tips of her fingers over Dean's bottom lip, bringing his attention back to her. Leaning up and forwards, she removed her fingers and replaced them with her lips. It was only the briefest of touches but Dean still shut his eyes and breathed in her scent. His eyes remained closed even after she had pulled back so he didn't see the warm smile across her face.

"I really do believe what I said." She told him. "About you being a good father."

"I want to be, but..." Dean opened his eyes. He looked up for a moment and tried to collect his emotions. "I don't know if I can," he said and then looked back down to meet her eyes. "I don't want to disappoint you."

Pepper smiled and shook her head as she gently cupped his face in her hands. "You could never disappoint me." She said then gently pulled him down while she leaned up until she could place a soft, gentle kiss on his forehead.

Dean lifted his head up and caught her lips with his own. He needed to make sure that she was real and kissing her always did that for him. He really could not believe how much faith she had in him. He never thought he deserved it, but no matter what she had always stood by him. As they pulled apart, Pepper smiled up at him once more.

"Come on," She said. "Sammy's waiting."

She finally let go of him and stepped around him to the Impala. Dean took in a breath and let it out slowly, a very slight smile gracing his mouth as he bent down to grab the rest of their bags.

Maybe he wasn't doomed to end up like Gordon. After all, who did Gordon have in his life to support him? No one, as far as Dean, could figure out anyway. But Dean, well Dean had Sam, and their father, not to mention Bobby and probably Ellen now that he thought about it. And most importantly, he had Pepper. If all of them believed that he would make it as a father then who was he to doubt.

As Dean got into the drivers seat after putting the bags in the trunk, his mood was a lot lighter than it had been before. He wasn't totally convinced that things would work out for him but he knew that with his family's help it would be very close. Dean looked at the glove box for a moment and decided that at their next stop he was going to take another long look at the sonogram picture.

As they drove away from the motel, Dean watched as Pepper flicked through the radio station trying to find a song she liked then he looked back at Sam in the backseat. He couldn't help but smile again. He really was glad that they were both with him. Pepper finally settled on a station that played songs of classic rock and settled back in her seat.

"So, where are we going now?" Pepper asked, turning slightly to look at Dean.

"Hhm, some place with a good pie." Dean replied. "I want pie."

Pepper looked over her shoulder at Sam and they both rolled their eyes and sighed.

Dean only grinned.

**TBC**

**Next Chapter - Lucky Days.**

**Author's Notes - **_Just wanted to say that I do not like writing fight scenes..._


	4. Lucky Days

**Authors Notes -** _This chapter is my version of the season 3 episode 'Bad Day At Black Rock'. Once again if there is a scene missing from the chapter that was in the episode it more than likely still happened, except there is no Gordon or those to idiots who worked for him. This is also inspired by the Katy Perry song, 'I Kissed A Girl' because that damn thing was stuck in my head when I was coming up with the outline for this chapter and the one after._

**CHAPTER FOUR - LUCKY DAYS**

It was 10:30 at night and Dean and Sam sat unmoving on the sofa of their motel room while Pepper walked around the kitchen. She drank down a glass of water and waited for Dean and Sam to recover, so that she could talk to them. The brother's were barely even blinking as they stared at the now black screen of the television. Neither of them noticed that the program they had been watching had stopped over twenty minutes ago.

Pepper was about to say something to them when Dean's cell began to ring. She jumped slightly at the sound before she picked up the phone. She checked the caller ID before answering.

"Hi, John." She warmly greeted as she moved to the small sink and placed her glass down.

"Ah, hello Pepper." said John. He was a little surprised, as he had expected to speak to Dean, especially at this time of night. "Can I talk to Dean?"

"Oh, he's busy right now." Pepper replied and John swore he could hear the smirk in her voice. "He and Sammy are recovering."

"Recovering from what?" John asked, slightly startled. The last he heard, Sam and Dean were hunting a possessed janitor at a school. Nothing too big or dangerous. "Are they okay?"

"Well, physically they're both fine, but mentally..." Pepper trailed off, half on a laugh.

"Why?"

"Because they just watched a very graphic and very intense birthing video that I picked up." She replied.

There was a pause while John tried to get his head around that. "They willingly watched that?" He asked.

After witnessing the birth of both of his sons, John knew how...horrifying the miracle of birth could be. He did not think that any man would choose to witness it unless it was their child being born, and even then, you wouldn't find many who would watch it on tape.

"They didn't really have a choice. They're being punished." Pepper informed him.

"For what?" John had to know. "What did they do?"

"Dean made some comment about me being fat or something...I can't really remember to be honest but he said something mean. And Sammy smirked, so-o-o as punishment they had to watch the video."

John found himself smirking with amusement. "I'm sure Dean didn't mean it as an insult."

"Oh, I know he didn't. But, you know, still." Pepper replied and half shrugged.

John could help but chuckle loudly at that. Fair enough to make Dean watch the video but, poor Sam was just caught in the crossfire. Still, John found the whole thing to be very amusing.

"Well, in that case could you give 'em a message for me?" John asked.

"Yeah, of course." Pepper smiled.

"I've got a storage container just outside of Buffalo, which has been broken into," said John. "I'm too far away to get to it myself. I need Dean and Sam to check it out for me. Make sure what was taken wasn't something dangerous. Here's the address--"

Pepper quickly grabbed a pen and scribbled the address on the back of a receipt.

"I didn't know you had a storage container. What's in it?" She asked, as she finished writing.

"Just, important things I've collected over the years." John quickly replied. "You think you'll be able to get there? I've already let them know that I'm sending a couple of my associates in my place and I've convinced them not to call the police."

"We should be able to get there soon." Pepper replied. "I think we're about ten hours away from Buffalo. Do you want us to call you when we've found what's been taken?"

"You might not be able to reach me. I'm just about to enter a town with very little reception." He explained. "But I should only be here for three or four days. If you run into any kind of trouble just call Bobby. He'll know about most of what's in the container."

"Oh, alright then."

"Thank you, Pepper. And, ah...thanks for the sonogram photo." John quickly mumbled.

John was referring to the last ultra-sound of the baby of course. Pepper had gotten into the habit of sending a copy of these pictures to Bobby and John as well as the hospital. John was excited to see his grandchild but he still felt a little awkward talking to Pepper. The two of them never really spent a lot of time alone together but John wanted to make the effort, after all, she was a big part of their lives now.

Pepper smiled brightly, even though John couldn't see it.

"You're welcome. Well, I'll let you get back to what you were doing."

"Okay." John nodded, then as an afterthought he added, "And try to go easy on Dean and Sam. You are the only pregnant woman they've ever really been around. It'll take them a while to become as sensitive as they should be."

Pepper chuckled, "I think you're right. Okay, bye."

She hung up and grinned while shaking her head. Turning around she saw Dean and Sam still in the same position they had been for nearly thirty minutes now, still staring at the television. Pepper rolled her eyes and walked towards them. She stopped in front of them and turned around to quickly switch of the TV before looking back at them. She stood there for several minutes and neither man registered her presence.

"How are we doin' boys?" She asked smugly.

"Ah..." Sam began but the closed his mouth again.

"Did we learn our lesson, or do we need to watch the video again--"

"--NO!" The brothers yelled out in unison.

Pepper smiled as the boys finally came out of their trances.

"We've learnt our lesson." Sam quickly assured her. He had defiantly learned not to laugh at any more of Dean's jokes, at least not the ones concerning Pepper.

"Just don't show us that ever, ever again." Dean begged, looking at her with wide eyes.

"I don't know why you're both so upset by it. I mean it's not as if either of you have to go through it." Pepper said with a frown.

"Oh," Sam frowned. He'd never thought about that. After a moment, he actually wanted to smile because he was glad that he would not have to witness it in real life while Dean would probably be beside Pepper when she gave birth. "Yeah, sorry."

"Yeah, me too," said Dean as he stood up. He walked around Pepper and grabbed the video out of the VCR. Holding it out in front of him, he asked, "Can we bury this thing in a twenty foot grave?"

"Aw, my poor traumatized baby." Pepper said in a patronizing tone as she reached up and patted Dean's cheek.

"I'm not traumatized." Dean frowned as he moved his head away from her hand.

"You were staring at a blank TV screen for so long that you didn't even notice when your cell rang."

"My cell rang?" Dean asked, surprised. "Who was it?"

"You're father." Pepper replied. "He's got a storage container outside of Buffalo that's been broken into and he wants you two to go and sort it out."

"A storage container?" Sam asked, frowning in confusion. He looked over at Dean and asked, "Dad ever tell you he kept a container in a storage place?"

"Um, no." said Dean. "Dad tell you what was in it?" He asked Pepper.

Pepper shook her head. "Not really. He just said it was important items and things he's collected over the years."

"Guess we're going to Buffalo then." said Dean.

Several minutes later, their bags were packed and they were heading out the door and towards the Impala.

"It's gonna be a long drive." said Sam as he placed the last bag into the trunk of the car. "It'll be morning by the time we get there."

He closed the trunk and walked around to the passenger side. He was already in the car when Dean was opening his own door, with Pepper standing beside him ready to get in the back.

"You gonna be right in the car for that long?" Dean asked her, with a hint of concern.

"I'll let you know if I'm not." Pepper smiled.

She reached forward with one hand and ran it up the back of Dean's neck before tugging him down into a passionate kiss. Dean couldn't help but smirk into the kiss, knowing that he was completely forgiven for his little 'fat' comment. Just as he was about to pull her closer, Sam leaned over and blew the car horn in one short but loud 'honk'.

Pepper pulled back, biting her lip to stop herself laughing while Dean didn't find it too amusing. They both got into the car and Dean turned to glare at Sam.

"You are such a little brother sometimes." He told him.

Behind them, Pepper burst out laughing.

* * *

They reached the storage container at 7:00AM the following morning. The three of them had collected the keys from the office clerk; though Dean had really wanted to wait back at the motel instead of joining them, after all he had no idea what things his dad was keeping down here.

As they stepped into John's container, flashlights in hand they were all a little surprise to see the elaborate trap that John had set up. A shotgun connected to a wire pulled tightly against the ground to go unnoticed by intruders. There was also a huge Devil's Trap painted on the ground as well. Sam and Dean carefully stepped over the wire, just encase it was connected to any other guns. You could never be too sure with John. While Sam moved further to explore, Dean turned around and held his hands out to Pepper. She took them and aloud Dean to help her cross the wire. If Dean had thought about it he would have realized that she would have been able to step over it herself. Once she was on the other side, Dean let go of one of her hands and led her further into the container, keeping her close behind him. He wasn't usually the hand-holding type, but being in an old, dark and dusty storage container full of who knows what made him a little edgy.

"So, what's the deal? Dad do work here or something?" Sam asked, as he moved around the room.

"Livin' the high life as usual." Dean joked but he was too busy looking around to put any conviction into it.

Slowly they made their way around the room looking at various bits and pieces. Dean saw something small sitting on top of some papers that caught his eye. He let go of Pepper's hand to look at what it was. He picked it up and examined it. It was a small trophy with a tiny child kicking a ball on top.

"1995" Dean read the front inscription aloud.

Sam and Pepper turned around with curious looks before they walked closer to get a better look.

"No way." Sam said in disbelief as he saw the trophy. He took it from Dean and turned it over to inspect it himself. A small smile tugged at his lips. "That's my division championship soccer trophy. I can't believe he kept this."

"Yeah, well that's the closest thing you ever came to being a 'boy'" Dean shrugged and then moved on, clearly done with this particular childhood memory.

"I think it's sweet, Sammy." Pepper smiled up at the youngest Winchester. "Maybe you could teach bub here how to play when they're older." She added, placing a hand across her stomach.

Sam grinned, quit please with the idea of spending time with his niece/nephew to do something normal like play sports.

Behind them, Dean was looking over a small table covered with dust and papers and...

"Oh, wow!" Dean yelled. There was a hint of excitement in his voice.

"What?" Sam asked, placing his trophy down before he and Pepper joined Dean.

Dean was grinning with pride as they approached him. He held a gun in his hand. "It's my first sawed-off." He explained. "I made it myself. Six grade."

Dean cocked the gun and laughs slightly, amazed that the thing still worked after all these years; then again, he was the one who made it.

Pepper laughed and shook her head a little in amusement. "Oh, you're just a goofy little child inside, aren't you?" She teased before she leaned up and kissed his cheek.

Dean made a face then carefully put the gun back down, not wanting to break it.

Eventually they found a caged off area with the lock broken. Sam opened the gate as carefully as he could and led the way inside. On the right hand wall there was a handful of different types of guns and weapons.

"Holy crap!" Dean said amazed. "Look at this, he has land mines." He paused and moved closer to get a better look. "Which...they didn't take. Or the guns." He turned back around and shrugged. "I guess they knew what they were after huh?"

Sam used his flashlight to scan over the wall of guns before he turned and looked at the opposite wall. This one was covered in shelves that were filled with different sized boxes. Each box had a lock, and different types of white symbols carved into the tops.

"Hey, Dean. Check this out." Sam called over his shoulder.

Dean stopped looking over at the guns, deciding which ones he may like to use, and walked up beside Sam.

"See these symbols?" Sam asked.

"What do they mean?" Dean asked back, using his own flashlight to see the various boxes.

"That's binding magic." Sam explained. "These are cursed boxes."

"Curse boxes." Dean nodded. "They're supposed to keep the evil mojo in right? Kinda like the Pandora deal."

"Yeah, yeah they're built to contain the power of the cursed object." Sam nodded in agreement.

Sam noticed that there was a gap on one of the shelves where a box should be.

"One box is missing." He pointed out, running his finger over the dusty place where the box should have been. "Great." He sighed.

"Well, maybe they didn't open it." Dean said with a half shrug.

"Aaah!"

Dean and Sam spun around after hearing the short scream. Panic flared up inside of Dean when he saw that Pepper was not in the cage with them. A split second later, Dean ran out of the cage with Sam right behind him. They spotted Pepper in one corner leaning over another dusty table covered in books and papers. Dean bolted towards her so quickly that he all but rammed his side into the table as he skidded to a stop in front of her.

"What is it? Are you okay? Is the baby okay?" He asked in one long rush of breath. His eyes quickly moved up and down her body.

Pepper looked up at him and smiled, "Oh, yeah. No, I'm fine."

Dean gaped at her and Sam stood back and caught his own breath. After collecting himself, Dean ran a hand roughly over his face before grabbing Pepper's shoulders, turning her around so that she was fully facing him.

"Don't do that again unless there is something wrong, okay." He told her, still feeling his heart beating in his ears. "You just took three years off my life, woman."

"Sorry." Pepper apologized. Obviously not realizing how serious Dean would take her yell of excitement. "I was just...well look at this." She turned back around and gestured to what she had been looking at.

It was an A-4 piece of paper, mostly covered in dust but you could still clearly see what was on it. It was a child's drawing done with bright colored pencils. The picture was of two people holding hands. One person was a lot bigger than the other was, and both had huge smiles on their faces. A bright yellow sun was drawn above them and right above the pictures heads were the words, 'My big brother Dean and me.'

Dean frowned, "You screamed because of a kid's drawing?"

"Not just any kid's drawing," Pepper defended. She grabbed the picture and held it out in front of her chest for Dean and Sam to see. "A Sammy Winchester original." She gushed.

"I don't remember doing that," said Sam, as he leaned in to get a better look. "I can't believe that's even here. I thought Dad would have tossed things like that in the bin."

"Well, John did say that he kept important things in here...aw, he thought this was important." Pepper sighed. "You're father is so sexy right now."

Dean looked horrified, "Please don't say things like that."

He ignored her laugh of amusement. He could handle his girlfriends getting a crush on his brother, that was fine, that he could deal with but to have a girlfriend who had a crush on his father...well that was just plain creepy.

"You think Dad has anything else in here like that?" Sam asked, his eyes scanning over the table in case there was anything else on it.

"Maybe we could come back." Pepper suggested as she carefully folded the paper and placed it in her jacket pocket. "You know, after we get back whatever was stolen. It'll be like going to a garage sale, only we won't have to pay for anything. We could grab you soccer trophy, Sammy and Dean's sawed-off." She beamed happily.

"This isn't a shopping mall, Pep." Dean interrupted her. "This stuff belongs to Dad. I don't think he'd appreciate it if you took half of what's in here."

"I'm not going to take half of it." Pepper said with frown and then she smiled once more. "Just the childhood memories. The guns and the land mines can stay."

"Good luck getting Dad to agree to that."

"I never said I was going to ask for John's permission, Dean." Pepper grinned.

Dean grinned back. In all honesty, he was a little proud that his father didn't intimidate Pepper. She was the only women he had been with, who'd actually met his father, who wasn't afraid of him. Then again, she had grown up with Bobby.

"Do we know what's been taken yet?" Pepper finally asked Sam.

"Yeah, one of the hex boxes that he keeps." Sam replied.

"Let's go see if this place as any security cameras." Dean suggested. "Hopefully we'll be able to find the guys that broke in before they open the box."

"And what'll you do if they already opened the box?" Pepper asked.

"Ah," Dean shrugged. "I guess we'll have to deal with it then."

* * *

Dean found the closest motel to the storage lockers and booked a room with two beds, as per-usual before dropping Pepper off while he and Sam went to find the people responsible for the missing box. It wasn't that hard to track them down as the idiots parked their car in front of the security camera, so that their license plate was clearly seen on screen.

Their time there was...eventful to say the least. One moment, Sam and Dean were getting their asses kicked by the two thieves, and the next moment the same two thieves were stumbling around and knocking themselves out. And this was all because of what had been in the box, a rabbit's foot. Sam had grabbed the foot with his bare hands, which somehow gave him all the luck that the thieves were having minutes before that.

As they drove back to the motel, Dean was getting excited about the whole concept of real good luck while Sam was skeptical about the entire thing. By the time they got back to the motel it was 10:15AM and Pepper was fast asleep on one of the beds. Dean practically bounced down onto the bed and shook one of her shoulders.

"Pepper." He called out with a large grin on his face. "Pep, come on wake up."

She frowned and tried to bury her face into her pillow but Dean was being annoyingly precedent. Finally, she realized that she wasn't going to be left alone at opened her eyes.

"This better be important, Dean." Pepper mumbled as she half turned to look up at Dean. He was beaming happily down at her. "You're grinning. Why are you grinning? Did you get the box back?"

"Oh we got better than that." Dean replied. "Sam, show her."

Sam sighed. He reached into his pocket, pulled out the rabbit's foot, and sat down on the edge of the other bed. Pepper stared at it for a long minute before her brain registered what it actually was. She sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the bed so that she was sitting directly in front of Sam, with Dean beside her.

"That's a rabbit's foot..." She said slowly, turning back to Dean. "Why the hell does Sammy have a rabbit's foot?"

"Because that is what was in the hex box that was stolen." Dean replied.

"So, out of everything there -the guns, the mines, and the other hex boxes filled with god knows what- they stole a piece of dead animal?" Pepper skeptically asked.

"It's not just any rabbit's foot." Dean said quickly. "It actually works."

Pepper frowned again and stared at Dean.

"It does!" Dean protested. He looked back at Pepper and realized that he probably shouldn't have woken her up to tell her this. She looked like she was still half-asleep. He sighed and stood up from the bed. "You'll get it when you're more awake. Anyway, I've gotta do something so I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Where are you going?" Sam asked, turning his head to follow Dean as he walked to the door.

"I gotta pick something up." replied Dean. "When I get back we'll go out for breakfast to celebrate your good luck."

With that, Dean flashed them another wide grin before he disappeared out the door.

Sam slowly turned back around to Pepper, placing the foot back into his pocket with an awkward smile. Pepper sighed heavily as she leant forward on one elbow, resting her chin in her hand as she looked up at Sam.

"He's your brother." She grumbled sleepily.

"Yeah, well...he's your boyfriend." Sam smiled, happy with his smart come back.

Pepper smiled, "Ah, yes but he was your brother first."

Sam chuckled even though she had won that, um, argument. Eventually Pepper went back to sleep and Sam had a quick shower while they waited for Dean to get back.

* * *

Dean arrived back at the motel nearly fifteen minutes later, carrying a brown paper bag in his hand. Sam turned his attention from the TV to his brother and eyed off the bag. Pepper was just walking out of the bathroom, pulling her hair back into a ponytail. She had taken a shower right after Sam, and had even changed her outfit. She smiled brightly when she saw Dean.

"You took your time." She said

"I was gone for ten minutes," said Dean, looking down at his watch. "Fifteen at the most."

Pepper rolled her eyes, amazed that Dean had missed her sarcasm.

"Where'd you go anyway?" She asked

Dean grinned and swiftly pulled out a handful of scratch cards from the bag he was holding.

"Dean, come on-" Sam began, deflated.

"What?" Dean innocently asked. "Hey, that was my gun that guy was aimin' at your head and my gun don't jam."

"Yes, that is true." Pepper agreed nodding her head.

"See. So that was a lucky break. Not to mention them taking themselves out, also a lucky break"

Sam still wasn't convinced. There was always something more to these things and this rabbit's foot wasn't going to be any different. Dean moved over to Sam and held out one of the scratch cards in front of his face.

"Here, scratch one." Dean waved the card back and forth.

Sam frowned but didn't take the card.

"Come on, Sam." Dean began, waving the card more forcefully. "Scratch and win."

Reluctantly, Sam took the card and pulled out a loose quarter from his pocket. He scratched the card quickly and tried to ignore Dean's triumphant smirk as he sat down beside him.

"Dean, it's gotta be cursed somehow." Sam protested. "Otherwise Dad wouldn't have locked it up."

Pepper walked over to stand beside Dean. She lightly ran her fingers through his hair. Dean turned his head and smiled as his eyes took her in. Her stomach had a slight bump but it was un-noticed in her current dress. He was actually a little disappointed in that. He liked looking at her and seeing her body change due to their baby.

Sam handed his card back to Dean without looking at his winnings. Dean looked down at the results and gaped.

"Twelve hundred dollars." He said, turning to look at Sam as a large smile spread across his face. "You just won twelve hundred dollars."

Dean whistled in excitement as he handed the card to Pepper so she could take a good look at their winnings.

"I don't know, man. Doesn't seem that cursed to me." said Dean with a grin as he handed Sam another card.

"I am not going to scratch lottery cards for you all day, Dean." Sam warned, starting to get annoyed by Dean's pestering.

"Oh, but come on..." Dean pouted and paused before placing a hand gently on Pepper's hidden bulge. "...Think of the baby." He rubbed his hand back and forth over the material of her dress.

Pepper swatted his hand away and scowled down at him, probably not happy that he was using their child to torture his brother. Although, Dean could see the smirk in her eyes so he wasn't too worried about it. Dean smiled up at her before placing a short kiss against her stomach. Behind them, Sam took out another card and began scratching it.

"What happened to breakfast, Dean?" Pepper asked her face losing the scowl from minutes before to be replaced by a grin.

"Oh yeah." Dean flashed another grin and stood up. "Come on then. Sammy, you can scratch and win in the car."

Sam rolled his eyes and muttered a curse at Dean under his breath.

"Can we at least call Dad, before we go?" He asked. "So he can tell us about the foot."

"Ah, actually, John said he wouldn't be reachable for a couple of days and he said to just call Granddad." Pepper explained. "You know, if we get into any trouble."

"And how is this trouble?" Dean asked. "Sammy, you've got complete and ultimate good luck. You're set for life."

"And you're not thinking about the consequences." replied Sam. he stood up and placed his hands in his pocket, double-checking that the rabbit's foot was still there. After a second or two, he shook his head and sighed, "Fine, let's go to breakfast and I'll call Bobby on the way."

"And the scratch cards?" Dean asked hopefully.

Sam let out a frustrated sigh before snatching the bag Dean was offering out to him. He was growing even more annoyed at his brother, and he really did not plan to spend his day scratching lottery cards but Dean had really guilt tripped him when he'd mentioned the baby. Of course, Sam couldn't say no to anything that could help with the baby and damn it, Dean knew that. This still did not mean that Sam had to be happy about it.

As Sam walked past them out the front door, Pepper was shaking her head in mock sadness at Dean.

"What?" He asked innocently.

* * *

Dean was driving them to a restaurant he had seen while picking up the lottery cards. While they drove, Pepper sat in the back organizing all the cards that Sam had already scratched while Sam himself called Bobby.

"Hello?" Bobby asked over the other end of the line.

"Hi, Bobby. Sam here."

"Sam. Everything okay, how's my granddaughter?"

"Ah, well..." Sam looked over his shoulder at Pepper, who offered him a bright smile. "She's okay. But we're kind of in weird situation here and we need some help."

"What's wrong?"

"Well we're at Black Rock, outside of Buffalo-"

"-Yeah I know it." Bobby replied. "John send you there?"

"Yeah he...wait, Bobby do you know why we're here?"

"I'd take a guess and say it's got something to do with ya dad's storage container. Right?"

"Right. So, look dad's unreachable and the place was broken into." Sam started to explain. "They didn't take much; actually they only took one of the curse boxes. We've got it back but we were wondering if you had any information for us?"

"What was in the box?" Bobby asked, just as Dean pulled the Impala into an empty park outside of the Biggerson's sizzlin' grill and bar.

Dean was the first out of the car. He hoped forward slightly to open Pepper's door for her. As she got out, Dean gestured for the scratch cards with a wide grin. She rolled her eyes while she handed them over, then she followed Dean to stand by the hood of the car and leaned her arms against it. Sam got out and walked a couple of steps away from them, still on the phone with Bobby.

"There was a rabbit's foot inside."

"Oh, just get the box back to storage and lock the place up again." Bobby instructed with a light tone.

"Right, it's just that the thing is...I sort of, um..." Sam began but trailed off on a mumble.

"You didn't touch the foot with your bare hands did you?" Bobby asked.

"A little bit." Sam confessed

He quickly looked over at Dean, who was practically bouncing for joy over the amount of money they had won with the scratch cards.

"Oh, man." Dean chuckled, while looking down at Pepper.

"You touched it!" Bobby all but yelled into the phone, bringing Sam's attention back to him. "How could you touch it? Didn't you realize that it was in a curse box for a reason?"

"Look, Bobby we didn't know."

"Damn it, Sam."

"Well, Dad never told us about this thing." Sam said defensively. "How were we supposed to know? We didn't even know that you knew about this place."

"Of course I knew about it. Hell, I built those curse boxes for him." Bobby replied. "Listen, you have got a serious problem. That rabbit's foot ain't no dime store notion. It's real hoodoo."

As Sam listened to Bobby, something on the ground caught his eye. He bent down to see what it was and was very surprised to see a gold watch, and by the looks of it, (though Sam was no expert) it looked real. He carefully picked it up and turned to show Dean and Pepper.

'Awesome!' Dean mouthed.

Pepper looked pleased. Apparently she couldn't be bothered with scratch cards but gold watches, well that seemed to be another story. Sam watched as Dean looked down and flashed a huge grin at Pepper.

"...Old world stuff." Bobby continued. "Made about a hundred years ago."

"It's a hell of a luck charm." Sam muttered.

"It's not a luck charm, it's a curse!" Bobby half yelled once again. "It was made to kill people, Sam." He let out a quick huff of breath before continuing. "See, you touch it, you own it. You own it sure you get a run of good luck to beat the devil, but you lose it, that luck turns. It turns so bad that you're dead within a week."

"Well, then I won't lose it."

"Everybody loses it!"

"Then how do we break the curse?" Sam asked.

Bobby paused for a moment.

"I don't know if you can." Bobby admitted. "Look, let me go through my library and make some calls. In the meantime, sit tight."

"Sure, Bobby."

"Oh and Sam, if you do loose it you sure as hell better stay away from Pepper. I don't want your stupidity to affect my granddaughter, or my future great-grandchild." Bobby warned in a menacing tone. "Understand me?"

"Yep." Sam gulped and nodded quickly.

"I'll call you when I have something." Then Bobby hung up.

Sam slowly turned back to the Impala.

"Dude, we're up fifteen grand!" Dean excitedly informed him.

Sam sighed as he walked towards them. "Ah, Bobby said the foot is cursed." He told them.

Pepper frowned and stood up, "Cursed in what way?" She asked.

"Well, if I lose it my luck could turn so bad that I die."

The grin that was plastered across Dean's face immediately disappeared. "He loses it, and you're not going anywhere near him." He firmly told Pepper.

Sam chose not to tell Dean that Bobby had the same exact same idea.

"What else did Granddad say?"

"He's looking into how to destroy it. He wants us to sit tight until then." Sam replied. "So, I guess we should head back to the motel."

"Do we really need to?" Pepper asked. "I mean, as long as you keep the foot safely in your pocket we should have no problems. Plus I'm starved."

"Fine, we'll go have breakfast." Dean smiled once again. He lifted one arm and gestured to the restaurant behind them.

Pepper smiled back and led the way. As Sam took a step to follow her, Dean grabbed his arm and stopped him.

Dean leaned right into his brother and whispered, "Do. Not. Lose. That. Foot."

Sam remained still as Dean let go of him and walked towards the restaurant. Sam reached into his pocket and wrapped his fingers around the rabbit's foot so tightly that he knew his knuckles where turning white. He let out a breath before finally following the others.

* * *

Almost forty-five minutes after calling Bobby, the three of them were sitting in a booth against a large window to the side of the restaurant. After being seated, and ordering their meals, Sam had gone out to the Impala to grab his laptop. He wanted to do a little researching of his own. By this point Dean was just finishing off his third ice cream sundae. He was definitely taking advantage of the year supply of free food they had won because of Sam's good luck.

"Well, Bobby's right." Sam announced before closing his computer. "The law goes way back. Pure hoodoo. You can't just cut a foot of any rabbit; it has to be in a cemetery under a full moon on a Friday the thirteenth."

Pepper frowned, "I feel sorry for the poor bunnies."

"I'm sure the rabbit's are dead before their feet are taken," said Sam.

"I hope so."

Dean continued to stuff his face but stopped briefly to announce, "I say from now on we only go to places with Biggersen's."

"We have a year supply of free food," replied Pepper. "See if they make deliveries." She joked.

Dean grinned and took the last few mouthfuls a little too quickly and was punished by a large brain freeze. He scrunched his face up and placed one palm to his forehead.

"Sevres you right for eating so much." Pepper told him, smiling broadly.

"Thanks for the sympathy." Dean mumbled. "I feel so loved."

Pepper grinned before tapping his shoulder lightly. "Shift over; I'm going to the bathroom."

"Not until you say sorry." Dean stubbornly replied.

Pepper narrowed her gaze, folded her arms over her chest, and simply looked at him.

"Or not." Dean mumbled and slid out of the booth. When he sat back down after she'd left, he noticed Sam shaking his head in amusement. "What?" He demanded.

"Nothing," Sam replied quickly. "I just like having Pepper here." He grinned.

"That's because you like having someone to gang up on me with." Dean explained. "Which is totally unfair, by the way."

Sam laughed, "Not my fault."

Dean glared at him as he drank down the remainder of his coffee. At that moment, a young attractive waitress approached them. She leaned down a little too close to Sam, with her eyes sparkling as she offered to refill his coffee. Sam simply nodded and Dean wasn't sure if his brother was just not interested in the woman, or if he just couldn't tell she was flirting with him. Dean had to use his mug to hide his smile of enjoyment over watching his brother maybe score with a chick. Not that he liked thinking about the actual scoring but he did like to know that his brother was at least going out there, and not simply hanging around himself and Pepper all the time.

Dean's thoughts were interrupted when the waitress spilled the coffee on the table, getting a little on Sam in the process.

"Oh," she gasped in surprise.

"Oh, oh no. Don't worry." Sam assured her. "I got it."

She slowly smiled and pulled a cloth out of her apron and used it to clean up the coffee.

"It's no trouble, really." She replied as she finished cleaning.

With one final flirtatious smile, the waitress stood up, placed the cloth back into her apron and slowly turned around. She walked away and swung her hips a little from side to side. Both Sam and Dean placed their arms on the table and leaned forward to get a better look at her.

"Dude, if you were ever going to get lucky." Dean said, his eyes still tracking the waitress.

"Sure," Sam shrugged and sat up. He smiled slightly when he noticed that Dean was still watched the waitress. "I'd stop looking if I were you." He looked over Dean's shoulder and said, "Oh, hey, Pepper."

Dean jumped up startled. His eyes wide. "I wasn't looking at anything!" He said quickly.

He spun around and frowned when he saw that Pepper actually wasn't standing behind him. Sam burst out laughing, so Dean turned back around and glared at him.

"That wasn't funny."

"It was a little funny.' Sam laughed.

Sam reached out to grab his mug but he wasn't paying much attention and ended up knocking it over, spilling coffee all over the table and himself.

"Oh, oh jeez." He mumbled and stood up, walking right into another waiter.

The waiter's tray was tossed to the floor with a loud crash leaving broken glass and plates everywhere.

"Sorry." Sam apologized before quickly turning to Dean. His expression turning quickly into one of shock.

Dean looked at the mess in deep puzzlement before turning to look at Sam. "How is that good?" He asked.

Suddenly the realization dawned on Sam and he put his hand into his pocket, where the rabbit's foot should be but no longer is. Pulling out the inside of his pocket to show Dean just how screwed they were. He watched as the same theory crossed Dean's mind.

"Son of a bitch!" Dean shouted angrily.

He jumped out of the booth and ran out of the restaurant, Sam right behind him. They pushed passed some new customers entering the restaurant as they headed outside. Dean quickly scanned the area around them but could not see any signs of the waitress, so he made a random decision on which way to go.

"Come on," He called out to Sam before running off to the left.

Sam ran after Dean but suddenly he lost his footing and fell into the pavement with a load, "Whoa!"

Dean didn't see Sam go down but he had heard his yell and immediately stopped in his tracks. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes because this was very serious. He slowly turned around and saw Sam lying face down on the pavement.

"Wow," Dean sighed. "You suck." He walked over and grabbed Sam's arms, helping him up. "So, what now your luck turns bad?" He asked

Sam frowned and grimaced as he looked down at his torn jeans and bloodied knees. They were hurting like hell!

"I guess." Sam nodded.

"I wonder how bad..." Dean thought aloud. He took in a deep breath, "wait here. I'm gonna go get Pepper, and you are staying far away from her." He warned.

Sam nodded and carefully sat down on the curb, figuring that at least in this position he didn't have far to fall if he somehow manage to trip on nothing again. Dean gave him one long look before running back inside the restaurant.

* * *

When he got back inside, he saw Pepper by their booth looking overwhelmingly confused.

"Pep!" He called out and walked over to her.

She spun around and stared at him with wide eyes. Dean found himself getting out a breath that she was okay. Scared, angry and probably annoyed but, still okay.

"Where the hell were you?!" She demanded, hitting his shoulder. "I come back and you and Sammy are both gone! Do you know how stressful that is to a pregnant woman?"

"Pep, come on, we gotta go." He quickly replied, grabbing her arm and tugging her towards the door.

"What?" She asked as she allowed herself to be dragged out of the restaurant. "Why what's happened and where's Sammy?"

Dean looked over his shoulder, "Someone stole the foot."

He led the way over to the Impala and opened the passenger side door for her. Pepper looked around widely but frowned when she couldn't see Sam.

"Again, where's Sammy?" She asked.

"He's waiting around the back of the restaurant. Far away from you like a good future-uncle."

"Dean, you can't just leave him here." Pepper protested.

Dean sighed, realizing that they weren't going to get anywhere unless he gave her the answer she was looking for.

"Look, I'm just gonna drop you back at the motel then I'm coming back for Sam." He replied. "But I need to know that you and the baby are safe first."

Pepper accepted this answer and nodded. Once she was in the car, Dean shut her door and ran around to the driver's side. As the pulled out of the parking lot Dean's expertly reached for his cell and called the number on speed-dial one.

"Sam, it's me. I'm taking Pepper back to the motel then I'm coming back and you and I are going to get that foot back." Dean talked quickly. "...No, don't touch anything, don't talk to anyone until I get back...Well, I don't know... Pretend you don't speak English, or that you're a mute or something, I don't care. Just make something up." Dean paused and sighed. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

With that, Dean hung up and tossed his phone onto the seat between himself and Pepper.

"Are you sure Sammy's going to be alright back there by himself?" Pepper asked, as they got closer to the motel.

Dean gave a half shrug in response before adding, "Well, it's a bit late to go back now. We're almost at the motel."

"You do know that this is your fault for acting so damn cocky about the whole thing." Pepper pointed out.

Dean didn't reply.

Soon they were pulling up right outside their motel room. Dean helped Pepper inside as quickly as he could, not that she needed the help, he just wanted to see her inside safely. He was in a rush because he needed to be able to get back and protect Sam, but of course because Pepper was pregnant with his baby her safety came first. It always would.

"Okay," Dean began while he did a quick sweep of each room. "Just, stay here and-"

"-Dean, I'll be fine. I'm not the one with the bad luck remember."

"I know..."

Pepper held her hand out to him. "Come here."

Dean sighed once more and walked over to her. He took her offered hands and leaned his forehead against hers. Pepper kissed him ever so lightly and then aloud Dean to move his head back slightly so that he could look into her crystal blue eyes.

"Go and help Sammy."

Dean nodded. He gave her one last lingering kiss then let go of her and headed out of the motel. He prayed that Bobby was coming up with a solution for all of them, and he mentally cursed himself for not realizing the seriousness of the situation when Sam had first grabbed the foot.

* * *

When Dean made it back to the restaurant, Sam had moved from his current spot. He was now waiting under a tree close to the parking lot. Half of his shirt was covered in strawberry thick shake so now he was sticky and smelled like strawberries all thanks to that stupid foot. As Sam got into the car, Dean was a little annoyed at having him in the Impala with his shirt but it was not as if he was going to go back to the motel so that Sam could change; besides they'd both been in the car with far worse anyway.

After Dean filled Sam in on his plan, which was simply to go back to the thief's place and beat an answer out of them, they drove to the apartment building of the thieves only to find that one of them had died and the other was close to drinking himself into a grave, or at least starting to. They managed to get what they needed through Dean doing all the talking and Sam left to walk into everything around him. They walked out and left the man alone as he was already suffering from losing his friend and they didn't need him for anything else.

"So, um what do we do now?" Sam asked, once they were outside.

"We try to find this chick," Dean replied. "Steal the foot back from her."

"How are we gonna find her?"

"I don't know. As far as we know she could have high-tailed out of town alre--" Dean stopped as his phone rang. "Hello," He answered quickly.

"Dean," Bobby's upbeat voice sounded from the other line. "Great news."

Dean's lips curled in a slight smile as he continued walking towards the Impala. He didn't notice Sam stop behind him. Sam had stepped in one of the biggest chunks of chewed gum he'd ever seen. It was disgusting and all over the bottom of his shoe.

"Wasn't easy, but I found a heavy weight cleansing ritual that should do the trick." Bobby explained to Dean.

"Bobby, that's great, 'cept Sam, ah..." Dean trailed off, trying to come up with the best way to tell him that they managed to do the one thing he warned them not too. He turned and looked behind him, noticing for the first time Sam's dilemma with the gum. "...Sam lost the foot--"

"--He what!" Bobby demanded. "How long has it been lost?"

"Just a few hours now."

"And you didn't think to call me?"

"Well, we thought we could get it back." Dean rationalized.

"Get it back?" Bobby asked in disbelief. "Where is Pepper? Dean, if his bad luck gets her in trouble--"

"--I won't let that happen." Dean replied quickly, actually annoyed that Bobby would not think he'd protect her.

Bobby took a breath and let it out slowly.

"Just tell me how you lost the foot." said Bobby.

"Hey, I didn't lose anything. Some...hot chick, stole it from Sam."

"A chick?" Bobby asked, just to see that he'd heard Dean right.

"Seriously." Dean replied. "She'd be in her mid twenties, and she was sharp. You know, good enough with a con to play us. And she only gave the guys she hired a name, probably an alias or something..." He trailed off and tried to remember that name.

He turned around to Sam for help. Sam was always better at remembering things like this. Sam had moved over to a metal grate on the ground. While he was busy scrapping his shoe against the grate, he still managed to pay attention to Dean's conversation.

"Luigy or something?" Dean told Bobby, hoping that Sam would correct him if he were wrong.

"Lugosi." Sam corrected.

Dean nodded a quick thanks then turned back around to finish talking to Bobby and repeated the name in case Bobby hadn't heard Sam say it.

"Lugosi? Lugosi..." Bobby mumbled, trying to remember why that name sounded so familiar. "Oh, crap." He sighed as it dawned on him. "It's probably Bella."

"Bella Lugosi?" Dean asked on a small, disbelieving smirk. "That's cute."

Behind Dean, Sam swore under his breath but Dean didn't turn around to see what the problem was. His curiosity was focused on his conversation.

"Bella Talbot's her real name," said Bobby. "Crossed paths with her once or twice."

"She knew about the rabbit's foot, is she a hunter?"

"Pretty far from a hunter." Bobby scoffed distastefully. "But she knows her way around the territory. She's been out of the country. Last I heard she was in the Middle East some place."

"Yeah, well I guess she's back."

"Which means seriously bad luck for you."

"Great," Dean sighed sarcastically and closed his eyes.

"But, if it is Bella at least I might know some folks who know where to find her."

"Thanks, Bobby." Dean opened his eyes and smiled just slightly. "Again."

"Hhmm."

"What is it, Bobby?" Dean asked, sensing that there was something else the older hunter needed to say.

"I'm just going to assume that Pepper wasn't around when Bella stole the foot." Bobby stated.

Dean frowned, "Ah, no. She was in the bathroom at the time. Um, Bobby why is that important?"

"No reason." Bobby said quickly. "It doesn't matter."

"No, come on Bobby. What did you mean?"

"Pepper and Bella have a history." Bobby replied. "So if she had been there, she would have been able to tell you about Bella."

"What kind of a history?" Dean asked, confused.

"You'll have to ask Pepper that, though she may not give you an answer."

"Bobby..."

"Just go ask her, okay Dean." Bobby said firmly, ending the conversation. "And look out for ya brother, ya idgit."

Dean lowered the phone and pressed the end call button. He was feeling mixed emotions from what Bobby had just said, mostly he was confused and intrigued. He had no idea what kind of 'history' Pepper could have with this Bella chick but he was determined to find out.

Dean turned around and saw Sam with a frown on his face.

"What?" Dean asked

"I lost my shoe." Sam admitted sadly.

Dean glanced down to where Sam was wriggling his sock covered foot then rolled his eyes. He muttered something to himself as he turned around and walked to the Impala.

"You are hopeless." Dean told Sam when they were both in the car.

Sam ignored him and instead asked, "So, what did Bobby say?"

"Ah, the chick's name is Bella Talbot."

"Is she a hunter?"

Dean shook his head. "Bobby says she's not. He's looking into how to find her. He's also got a way to destroy the foot, which should get your luck back to normal."

"Where are we going now then?'

"Back to the motel." Dean replied.

"I thought you didn't want me near Pepper?" Sam asked confused.

"I don't, but you need shoes and a shirt," said Dean. "And I can make sure that nothing you do will hurt her, plus I need to ask her something."

"Oh, what?"

"Just something Bobby mentioned."

Sam frowned as he was hoping to get a little bit more of an answer than that.

* * *

Pepper was sitting crossed-legged on a bed, using the television remote to surf through the different channels when Dean unlocked the door and entered the room. She looked up and him and quickly turned the TV off.

"You're back. Have you got the foot?" She asked.

"Well-" Dean began.

He was interrupted by the sound of their door flying shut and hitting Sam in the nose before he had a chance to walk into the room.

"Oh for...." Sam's muffled yell came through the door.

Dean sighed and shook his head. "Not exactly."

"Oh," Pepper nodded.

Sam opened the door and carefully walked in, holding his nose. He lowered he hand down to see if there was any blood. He wanted to go and see the damage in the bathroom mirror but knew that he'd promised Dean that he would not leave the doorway.

"So, if you haven't got the foot back, then why are you both here?" Pepper asked.

"We're not staying." Dean replied. "And he's," he added, pointing a sharp finger towards his brother, "not moving from that spot."

Pepper nodded, "So what are you going to do..." She trailed off and stood up. She frowned and looked from Dean to Sam before asking, "Is that strawberry milk I can smell?"

"Don't ask." Sam muttered.

Pepper smiled sadly at Sam, but Dean could tell that there was a hint of amusement in her eyes. He watched as she finally took in Sam's appearance from his milk-covered shirt to his shoeless foot. She looked back at Dean who simply shook his head. Sam was beginning to look like a lost puppy with his eyes downcast and his bottom lip slight out in a pout.

"We're waiting for Bobby to call." Dean explained. He walked over to Sam's duffle bag and placed it on the bed. "He's looking into where this chick is."

"Um, chick?" Pepper asked confused.

"Oh yeah, sorry. Some chick stole the foot from Sam." Dean replied. He paused to throw Sam a new shirt and his other pair of shoes before he continued. "Bella Talbot. Bobby said you knew her."

"Ah, yeah." Pepper slowly replied.

"Well, how exactly?"

"It's...complicated." Pepper sighed. "We just have this history."

"That's what Bobby said. You know you and he can both be very vague when you want to be." Dean said and walked over to her. "Come on, Pep. You gotta give me more than that."

"No I don't." Pepper replied, placing one hand on her hip defensively. "Anyway, shouldn't you be focusing on getting the foot back from Bella instead of standing here asking me questions?"

Okay now Dean was even more interested in Pepper's relationship with Bella than he was before. Something was definitely up if she wanted to hide it from him. He knew that he should leave it there but he couldn't. It wasn't that he enjoyed annoying her, in fact most times he really tried to avoid it (though somehow never managed to do so) because an annoyed Pepper is an angry Pepper. And whom did she take her anger out on? Him, of course.

"Well, with McSpaz over there," Dean began against his better judgment to keep his mouth shut. "I need as much information as I can get on this chick so I know what I'm up against."

Pepper let out a long, annoyed sigh and rolled her eyes.

"Fine." She gritted out between clenched teeth. She folded her arms over her chest and said, "Bell and I, well we kind of...dated. For a while."

Dean and Sam stared at her wide eyed for several seconds. Their mouths opened slightly as their brains tried to register this new information. Out of all the things, either of them had expected Pepper to say, that was most certainly not one of them.

"You...you dated?" Dean asked, finding his voice after most of the shock has passed. "You mean each other?"

Pepper shrugged in response. "Yeah, each other. But it was not what you would call a healthy relationship by any means. It was just a stupid mistake on my part."

"Dating a hot woman doesn't sound like a mistake to me." said Dean, before he even realized it.

Pepper glared at him, "Dean, you're not suppose to enjoy this conversation."

"Why not?" He asked, smirking slightly. "Thinking about two hot women together, it's what great adult movies are made of."

"What!" Pepper demanded.

Behind them, Sam was shaking his head at Dean's stupidity. Maybe his bad luck had rubbed off on his brother because at this moment, Dean was digging himself deeper into a hole.

"No, I didn't mean hot." Dean quickly replied. He finally figured out that he had said the wrong thing. "I mean you're hot but--"

"Dean, stop being so thick and shut up." Pepper snapped.

"Okay," Dean's grinned turned into a soft smile as he lifted his hands up in surrender. "I'm sorry." He said sincerely as he moved towards her.

Pepper sighed in relief because he did sound sorry, and she could always tell. When he was standing right in front of her, he reached up and lightly touched her cheek. Pepper smiled so Dean knew that he was forgiven.

"I am sorry, you know. It's just that the image of two women..."Dean began. "Well, it is hot but I promise that next time I'll think before I speak and I won't get so excited about it."

"Wait," Pepper frowned and stepped back, which caused Dean to drop his hand.

Dean looked extremely puzzled. He'd been warned by both Bobby and his dad to watch out for extreme mood swings while Pepper was pregnant, but he had always thought that there would be a legitimate reason for it when it happened, and he didn't think she'd get them this early.

"So, you think that's what I'm angry?" Pepper demanded. "Because your perverted male mind was enjoying the thought of two women having sex?"

"I...ah...well, yeah." Dean replied. "Why else would you be upset?"

Pepper let out a short exasperated sigh and shook her head. She dropped down onto the edge of the bed and folded her arms across her chest in annoyance. Dean looked over at Sam, who was busy tying the laces of his shoes.

"I can't believe that you have no idea why I'm upset." Pepper said quietly.

"Well, you could tell me." Dean pointed out as he looked down at her.

"Why should I have to tell you?" Pepper asked as she sharply turned to look at him.

"Um, so that I would know what I did."

"You know, you can be such a moron sometimes."

"I'm the moron? Look, you're the one--" his phone ringing cut off Dean. He checked the ID before answering it. "Hey, Bobby...yeah...No, I'm gonna drop Sammy off at a different motel room...ah, not really...yeah...thanks, Bobby." Dean sighed and nodded. "Yeah I know, we owe you. See ya Bobby."

Pepper and Sam were watching him as he hung up and pocketed his phone once again.

"Alright, Bobby's got it on good authority that Bella's living in Queens." Dean told them.

"Then you should probably get going." Pepper said, still clearly annoyed.

Dean stared at her for the longest moment and wondered if he should try to fix this now or if he should focus on getting the foot back. He wanted Pepper to say something...anything to let him know what he should do. When she didn't speak, he decided that getting the foot back was the best option. At least it would give her some time to calm down. Dean shook his head and walked over to Sam.

"Let's go, Sam."

Sam nodded and looked worriedly at Pepper as Dean walked out the door.

"Um..." Sam began.

"Go, Sammy." Pepper commanded, avoiding eye contact.

Sam nodded and quickly followed Dean out.

Sam was a little stunned by what he'd just witnessed. Sure, he had seen Dean and Pepper fight before but never that intensely, and barely anything was said. Sam was just glad that it wasn't his fight because he was just as confused as Dean was over why Pepper was so upset.

* * *

Dean booked another room at the motel and made sure to get the one furthest away from Pepper's just encase Sam's bad luck got worse. After leaving, Sam with instructions not to touch anything Dean made his way to Queens. On the way, he had tried to focus on getting the rabbit's foot back from Bella and not on the fight, he'd had with Pepper. It was easy said than done.

It wasn't hard to break into Bella's apartment. It wasn't as if it was the first time he had to break into a place with a high security system so he had a lot of practice and thankfully, Bella wasn't there when he arrived which gave him time to look around for the foot. He had to admit, that the chick knew what she was doing. Her place was filled with expensive and what Dean would guess were rare items. After searching the entire apartment from top to bottom and coming up empty, Dean moved into one of the closets to wait for Bella to come back.

The time alone had him thinking about his fight with Pepper again. He honestly had no idea why she was so angry with him. It was not as if he'd been asking for details on her relationship with Bella. Not that he hadn't thought about it, but he wasn't that stupid.

So, really, what the hell was her problem?

Dean didn't have time to think about it for too long because shortly after hiding, he heard Bella come in. He didn't let his presence known right away and instead chose to wait to see if she had the foot on her. Dean waited while Bella made a phone call. After she hung up, Dean knew that she finally figured out that someone had been in her home. That was when Dean finally stepped out of the closet and aimed his gun directly at her heart, but she was prepared because she quickly pulled out her own gun and aimed it right back at him. From the look in her eyes, Dean knew that she knew how to use the weapon.

"You left without your tip." Dean sarcastically commented.

"Cute." said Bella. "With that quick wit, I'm surprised it took you this long to get here."

"Ah, Hun, I've been here for a while. Now that little rabbit's foot you took from my brother, you're gonna give it back."

"Oh, sweetie," Bella smiled. "No I'm not."

"Yeah we'll see. Bella, right?" He asked, though he knew perfectly well who she was.

"That's right. Dean."

"You know that thing is cursed don't you?" He asked and refused to comment on the fact that she knew who he was.

Bella shrugged, "You'd be surprised by what some people would pay for something like that."

"Really?" Dean asked, not really believing it.

"There's a lucrative market out there." Bella nodded with a slight smile. "Lot of money to be made. You hunters with all those amulets and talismans you use to stop those big bad monsters. Any one of them could put your children's children through college."

Dean made a slight disbelieving sound in the back of his throat, yet he still couldn't help it as his mind wondered off to how simple it would be to sell one of the different amulets that Bobby had given him. And it wasn't as if he wanted the money for himself, just for his baby. Surely, Bobby and the others would not object to that...

He blinked once and cleared his thoughts then re-focused on Bella standing in front of him.

"So, you knew the truth about what's really going on out there and this is what you've decided to do with it?" He asked her. "You become a thief."

"I procure unique items for a select clientele." Bella corrected as she and Dean moved around the apartment, neither one lowering their gun.

"Yeah. A thief."

"No." Bella replied. "A great thief."

"Look, Bella. My brother touched the foot and when you took it from him his luck went from--"

"--I know how it works." Bella interrupted him.

"So, then you know he's gonna die unless we can destroy it?"

"Oh... You can have the foot."

Dean paused startled. He didn't believe that she'd just offered to give the foot back just like that. It was all a little too easy.

"For 1.5 million." Bella added.

Dean rolled his eyes. He knew that was coming.

"Nice. Yeah, I'll just call my banker." He shook his head and scoffed. "How'd you even find the damn thing? It was stuck in the back of some storage place in the middle of nowhere."

At first Bella didn't respond. She simply turned around to look behind her at a large spirit board on her wall.

"I just asked a few of the ghosts of the people it had killed." She explained. "They were very tuned into its location."

"So, you're only out for yourself huh?"

Bella shrugged slightly as she turned back around to face him once again.

"It's all about number one."

"And being a hunter is so much more noble?" Bella pointed out. "A bunch of obsessed revenge driven sociopaths trying to save a world that can't be saved."

"Oh, well aren't you a glass half full."

"We're all going to hell, Dean. Might as well enjoy the ride."

"Well, that's kind of morbid." said Dean. "No wonder you're only out for yourself, I guess no one else would be." He added with a pleased smirk.

"Unlike you, of course with your little brother and mostly absent father?" Bella asked. She paused slightly and slowly grinned. "And let's not forget Bobby Singer's granddaughter."

"How...how do you know about...?"

"What, about Pepper? Dean, I saw you at the restaurant." Bella explained. "You all looked pretty cozy together which leads me to believe that you're screwing her."

"You sure about that?" Dean asked and hoped his voice didn't portray how nervous he was feeling.

"Well, either you're screwing her or your brother is. Or both. I wouldn't put that past her."

Dean's fingers tightened dangerously around his gun at Bella's words.

Bella smirked wickedly and asked, "Did Pepper tell you about her and I?"

"Yeah." Dean replied. "You used to date. So what? You're a lesbian thief, still a thief."

"No more lesbian that she is." Bella replied. "She didn't go into details though, did she?"

"What makes you think I'm interested in the details?"

"You're a hot blooded male, Dean. Of course you want the details."

Dean wanted to deny that but the truth is that he had been a little interested what man wouldn't have been.

"It won't last you know." Bella said, bringing Dean out of his thoughts.

"What?" He asked

"This thing you have with Pepper, it won't last. She's never been one to stay in the one relationship for too long."

Dean let out a quick breath. At least Bella didn't know anything about the baby so that was a plus.

"Sooner or later she'll get bored and leave."

"You don't know her as well as you think." He snapped.

"Oh, did I hit a nerve?" Bella asked, her smirk growing larger. "Is that because you know that I'm right? That she will get bored of you and leave and you can already see it coming."

Dean faulted and realized that on some level that was true. Before he could dwell on it for too long though, he quickly regained his composer. He couldn't think about this now, not when Sam was cursed with the mother of all bad luck.

"Well, this has been charming but, ah, look at the time."

Dean reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the rabbit's foot, a triumphant smile spreading across his face.

"Oh and this...looks like you're not the only one with sticky fingers." He paused and frowned as he tightly wrapped his fingers around the foot. "If it's any consolation, I think you're a truly awful person."

Bella glared and fired a few shots at him, and of course each one missed. Dean had to laugh at that not because he liked having the good luck but because he enjoyed seeing Bella frustrated and angry.

As he raced out the door, Dean could not help but call out "See ya!" in a teasing way.

* * *

After taking the foot back from Bella, Dean made his way to Sam's motel room in record time, keeping the rabbit's foot securely gripped in his hand. He had tried not to think about all the things that Bella had said, but they remained in the back of his mind. He had no idea why he was letting this annoying woman get to him, and he hoped it was just because of the fight he'd had with Pepper before going there.

Dean walked into the motel room and startled his brother, who jumped up from the bed he was sitting on. Dean rolled his eyes then stopped as he noticed that Sam wasn't sitting where he'd left him.

"I thought I told you not to move," said Dean.

"It's hard not to move when the place is on fire." Sam responded.

"What!" Dean demanded as he spun around to take in the room.

"It wasn't actually on fire." Sam admitted sheepishly. "The air-con caught fire a few times."

"Man, you really do suck."

"Did you get the foot back?" Sam asked.

Dean smiled and reached into his pocket where he pulled the foot from. Sam looked at it and frowned as he saw that Dean had his bare fingers wrapped around it.

"And you thought it would be a good idea to touch it?"

"Get off my back, Sam. I got it back didn't I?" Dean sighed and shoved the foot back into his pocket. "Besides we're destroying it soon aren't we?"

"I guess." Sam nodded. "Oh, Bobby called back so we have a ritual to destroy it but we need to do it in a cemetery."

"Great." Dean paused and stuck the rabbit's foot back into his pocket. "Guess we better go pick up what we need. Ah, can you give Pepper a call and tell her what we're doing?"

Sam frowned but didn't press Dean to say anything more. Clearly, Dean was still troubled by the fight with Pepper, and Sam didn't want to aggravate his brother if he didn't need to. The fact that Dean now had the best luck in the entire world didn't stop him from looking a little tired and worn and Sam knew that it was completely because of his fight with Pepper.

Eventually Sam nodded and grabbed his cell. As he called Pepper, Dean walked back outside and waited for him by the Impala.

"Hi, Pepper." Sam said carefully when she answered.

"Sammy." She replied shortly, still clearly pissed off at Dean.

"Um, yeah I just wanted to tell you that we're about to destroy the foot." Sam replied. "Dean and I are going to the local cemetery then we should be back after that."

"Oh," Pepper sighed. "Any idea how long it's going to take?"

"It shouldn't take long, the ritual isn't that difficult."

"Alright, just call me when you're done." Pepper tiredly replied. "Oh, and Sammy, watch out for Bella. She's not going to just let Dean get away with stealing from her...even if she does deserve it."

"Okay." Sam nodded and hung up.

* * *

While at the cemetery, Sam seemed to be doing all of the work. Actually he was doing all of the work while Dean was busy standing to the side as he scratch some more lottery cards. Sam tried to ignore him, started a small fire, and added all of the ingredients to it.

"Alright, bone ash, cyan pepper." He sighed to himself. "That should do it."

Sam paused and turned to look at Dean.

"One second," Dean muttered and finished scratching the last card.

Sam frowned, "Dean you--"

"--Hey back off jinx." Dean warned. "I'm bringing home the bacon."

There was a small smile on Dean's face as he looked over all of the cards, so Sam knew that he had won at least a few more grand. Sam shook his head and watched as Dean carefully placed all the cards into the pocket of his jacket, which lay across one of the tombstones.

"Dean, do you really think that winning a bunch of money is going to put Pepper in a better mood?" Sam asked, because he was starting to get annoyed at the fact that he'd done everything.

"If Pepper cared about money she wouldn't be with me, now would she." Dean snapped. He walked over to the fire and pulled the rabbit's foot from his jeans pocket. "Alright," he said in a much lighter tone. He dangled the rabbit's foot and swung it slightly from side to side. "Say goodbye, wascally wabbit."

The smile quickly disappeared from his face however when they heard the unmistakable sound of a gun being cocked behind them. Dean spun around and wasn't all that surprised to see Bella standing before him, her gun pointed squarely at his chest.

"I think you'll find that belongs to me.," said Bella. "Or, you know, whatever." She added with a half shrug.

Dean opened his mouth to say something but Bella beat him to it.

"Put the foot down, Honey." She ordered.

"No." Dean shook his head. "You're not gonna shoot anybody. See, I happen to be able to read people. Okay, you're a thief. Fine. But you're not--"

Dean was abruptly cut off as Bella fired a shot. She missed Dean of course because of his good luck but what Dean hadn't counted on was her aiming the gun at Sam. Sam cried out in pain and grabbed his shoulder. Dean spun around and stared at him in shock before turning back to Bella.

"Son of a--" Dean began to yell.

"--Back off tiger." Bella warned, aiming her gun at Sam once again. "You make one more move and I'll pull the trigger. You've got the luck, Dean. You I can't hit, but your brother, him I can't miss."

Sam stood up straight and pressed his hand down onto his shoulder wound, and glared sharply at Bella.

"What the hell is wrong with you!" Dean shouted. "You don't go around shooting people like that!"

"Relax. It's a shoulder hit." Bella said calmly. "I can aim-"

Out of nowhere, the sound of another gunshot filled the air but it was not from Bella's gun this time. The bullet barely missed Bella's feet, causing her to take a step back. As one, Dean, Sam and Bella all turned to their right to see where the bullet came from. Three pairs of eyes grew wide as they all stared at Pepper.

"So can I." Pepper said, giving Bella a hard stare.

Pepper was wearing a long coat with all the buttons done up, and if Dean could get his brain over the shock of seeing her (with a gun) long enough to think, then he might be thankful for that because it meant that Bella still wouldn't know about the baby.

"Pep, how did you...?" Dean started to ask.

"Are you alright, Sammy?" Pepper called out without taking her eyes off Bella.

"I - yeah." Sam said in a daze.

Sam had no idea that Pepper knew how to use a gun, or that she was so good at it. She sure kept that a secret.

Bella recovered from her shock first and slowly smiled at Pepper, letting her eyes travel over her body. That made Dean snap out of his own daze. Seeing Bella look at Pepper that way made him want to run over and punch Bella. Now he never believed in hitting women (demon possessed ones excluded) but for Bella, he was willing to make an exception.

"You haven't changed." said Bella. "Still as feisty as ever."

"And you're still a complete bitch." Pepper snapped. "The world keeps on spinning."

Bella gave a half shrug, seemingly not bothered by Pepper's comment or the fact that she had a gun pointed at her.

"I suppose you're going to ask me nicely to put my gun down?"

"Well I could just shoot it out of your hand, and you know I won't miss.," said Pepper. "Though maybe I should just do that. After all you would deserve it, what with stealing the rabbit's foot from us, and shooting Sammy, oh and just being a pain."

"You wouldn't shoot me, Pepper." Bella said smugly. "That's why you shot at my feet."

"Bella, I've had a really awful day, so don't push me just drop your gun and kick it towards me."

Bella's eyes darted from Pepper, to Dean and Sam the back again. Then she slowly did as Pepper ordered. She stood back up as Pepper bent down to retrieve her gun. Now Bella had two guns pointing at her.

"Sammy," Pepper called out.

"Yeah?"

"Burn the foot." Pepper instructed.

Sam nodded and waited while Dean slowly spun around and tossed the foot into the fire. They stared into the flames and watched the animal part burn away into nothing. At least that was all over. Several moments later, both Winchesters tuned and looked back at Pepper and Bella. Pepper slowly made her way over to them and stopped beside Dean, still glaring and aiming her guns at Bella. Dean couldn't help but stare at the guns in her hands.

"Thanks very much." Bella said sarcastically as she watched what remained of the foot burn away. "I'm out one and a half million, and on the bad side of a very powerful, fairly psychotic buyer."

Dean shook his head to clear his thoughts and looked up at Bella. "Wow, I really don't feel bad about that." He said, shaking his head slightly. "Sam?"

"Nope." Sam added, his hand still pressed firmly against his bleeding shoulder. He forced a smiled and added, "Not even a little."

"Hhm." Bella hummed.

"This is the part where you leave, Bella." said Pepper.

Bella nodded and turned to walk away. She paused and turned back after only having walked five steps. "Maybe next time, I'll hang you lot out to dry."

"Oh, don't go away angry, just go away." said Dean, the ton in his voice changing from sarcastic to annoyance in less than a second.

With that, Bella turned and walked out of the cemetery. Pepper waited until Bella was out of sight before she sighed and let her shoulders drop. Dean turned to her with a deep frown on his face. A thousand and one questions where running through his mind at that moment.

"Pep..."

She turned to him and looked into his eyes for the briefest of moments before thrusting both hers and Bella's gun at his chest. Clumsily, Dean grabbed the guns and watched as Pepper stepped past him towards Sam. Pepper gently removed Sam's hand from his shoulder long enough to look at it.

"I don't think it looks too bad." said Pepper with a sad smile. "How does it feel?"

"Ah, I've had worse." Sam replied slowly.

Pepper nodded, "Well, we should still take you to the hospital to get it looked at."

"Ok." Sam nodded.

As Pepper talked to Sam, Dean continued to stare at her but, she either didn't notice or she simply ignored him. It wasn't until the three of them where heading to the Impala that Dean decided to speak.

"Come on, Pep. So, you're just not going to talk to me now is that it?" He asked, moving to walk beside her.

Pepper's head snapped up and she glared at Dean. "No," She snapped. "Because if I talk to you now, Dean I'm going to say some things that I'll regret later."

"So, you'd regret saying them but you'd still mean them?" Dean asked her.

Pepper didn't answer and simply continued to the car. Her silence was driving Dean insane. He was so close to grabbing her and shaking some sense into her. He would do to if she wasn't pregnant and he wasn't scared shitless of causing harm to the baby. Before Pepper could open the passenger door, Dean stopped her with a hand covering the top of the door.

"Look," He began. "I'm sorry. Okay."

"Oh," Pepper replied, taking a step back from him. "You're sorry. Well that's great Dean, but why exactly are you sorry?"

Dean paused and his eyes shifted away from her. He knew that he was sorry for acting the way he did, and he was sorry that they were fighting because he hated it but he doubted that those were the reasons she was looking for. If Dean could wish for anything at this moment it would not be to find the demon that killed his mother (though that would be a close second) it would be to have the power to read Pepper's mind. God, the woman was going to be the death of him.

"Yeah," Pepper nodded slowly. "That's what I thought."

Dean let go of the car and watched silently as Pepper opened the door and got inside. Sam gave him a sympathetic look before ducking into the back of the Impala. Dean sighed heavily and moved to the driver's side. This was going to be a long night.

* * *

They got back to the motel late that night after leaving the hospital where Sam got his shoulder seen to. The tension between Pepper and Dean was all but suffocating Sam, and it seemed to be getting worse with every passing minute. Sam had never seen his brother get this worked up over a woman before, then again, he'd never really known a woman that Dean was in a relationship with and Pepper was carrying his child. Still it was all making Sam uncomfortable as he sat down on his bed.

Dean and Pepper were pretty much avoiding each other, which isn't easy in such a small motel room but they somehow managed it. They both moved around the room, with Pepper going into the bathroom to change and Dean getting himself a drink of water. Finally after what felt like days but was only fifteen minutes the silence was broken.

"Alright, that's it." Dean said suddenly rounding on Pepper. "You can't keep giving me the silent treatment for ever, you know."

"Yeah, well talking to you doesn't seem to work." Pepper snapped.

Pepper moved past him and stood beside their bed, purposely turning her back on him. Dean loudly sighed in frustration before he walked over to stand in front of her. He wasn't going to let her decide when this conversation ended.

Sam looked up from his position on the bed, turning his gaze from Dean to Pepper and back again. Sam was now certain that stubbornness was going to be passed on to this kid.

"Well, you haven't really talked to me have you?" Dean pointed out as a statement rather than a question. He thought for a moment before adding, "You're only this upset because of we ran into Bella."

"What?" Pepper asked, "Dean, I told you that Bella was a mistake."

"If it was a mistake then why are you getting so upset about it?"

"Me being upset has nothing to do with Bella." Pepper snapped angrily.

"It has to have something to do with it." Dean exclaimed.

"No," Pepper replied, angrily crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm upset because of you and the fact that you're acting like a jerk."

Dean let out another sound of frustration and rubbed both hands over his face roughly. He lowered his hands and shook his head. Sam watched him for a moment before trying to figure out if he could make it to the door without being noticed.

"What," Dean began. "Please for the love of god, tell me what the problem is? Because I'm not a mind reader. I can't fix this unless you tell me what's wrong."

"What's wrong is that you're an idiot."

"Wow, thanks for being so specific." Dean drawled sarcastically. "How am I an idiot?"

"Well, for starters you keep breaking our rules."

"I -" Dean paused and shifted his eyes towards Sam. This really wasn't something that he ever planned on discussing in front of his younger brother, but he doubted he had time to tell Sam to leave, and at least Pepper was finally letting him know what her problem was. Even if he didn't follow her logic. "-Yeah... How did I break 'em?"

Pepper shook her head in disbelief. "Ah, by going on and on about Bella when I'd told you we'd had a relationship." She pointed out. "You acted as if it was so fantastic that I'd been in a lesbian relationship."

"I already said sorry for that--" Dean began.

"--But you weren't sorry for the right reason. Dean, it shouldn't matter if we're talking about my relationship with Bella, or my relationship another guy, your reaction should be the same." Pepper replied. "You're not supposed to be happy about it."

"Then how am I supposed to act?"

"I don't know, angry or jealous or something." Pepper said desperately. "Or, you could not act any way and just move on from it." She closed her eyes and let out a brief sigh before continuing. "Dean, we said we'd never talk about any of our ex's around each other."

"I didn't talk about one of my ex's." Dean said, with a deep frown.

Sam felt like he was watching a tennis match. His gaze moving from one to the other as they spoke.

"No, but you stood here and went on and on about one of mine." Pepper replied, as she lowered her arms from her chest. "We have rules for a reason, Dean. So that we don't get into these types of situations, yet you always find it so easy to break them."

"One rule, Pepper. I broke one rule!" Dean said in a raised tone, holding up one finger to emphasize the number.

"Really?" Pepper asked and Dean nodded. "And what about Cassie?"

Dean paused, literally lost for words. His face dropped from anger to shock then back to anger in a matter of moments. Sam's eyes had grown wider as he stared at them. Sam knew all about Cassie, but he had no idea that Pepper knew about her.

"You...you know about Cassie?" Sam asked Pepper, ignoring the death glare that Dean was sending his way.

"Yes." Pepper replied with a short nod. "Did Dean tell you about that?"

"Drop it, Pepper." Dean warned.

"Yeah, he told me a bit about her." Sam replied.

"So you know that he loved her?"

Sam nodded. He knew that Dean was most likely going to cause him bodily harm for sticking his nose into his past, even though it was Pepper's fault.

"Okay, so--"

"--Seriously, Pepper!" Dean shouted, drawing her and Sam's attention back to him. "This isn't a conversation that I want to have in front of my brother."

"Well, if you weren't so infuriating then we wouldn't be having this conversation at all!" Pepper yelled back. The anger in her tone matched that of Dean's. She sent Dean a cold stare before she continued talking to Sam. "As I was saying, the rules we came up with for our relationship were 1-we could see who ever and as many people we wanted when we weren't together. 2-we don't let it affect our relationship and what we have. Which means not talking about other relationships we may be having. And, 3-if we do get romantically involved with someone else, and I mean if we fall in love then we'd stop seeing each other as lovers." She paused briefly and glad over her shoulder at Dean. "He didn't do that."

"Oh come on -" Dean began.

"You were in love with Cassie, Dean." Pepper said in a desperate tone, obviously this argument was beginning to get to her. "Yet you still came and slept with me, while you were still dating her."

"That's not what-"

"-You turned me into the other woman, Dean." Pepper cried out, tears beginning to pool in her eyes. "Do you even know how that made me feel?"

"Pep," He sighed, still a little angry but not as much as he had been.

Pepper shook her head sadly, dropping her gaze from Dean. Her eyes shining with the tears that she refused to let drop. "You know, I can't argue with you anymore. I'm tired and it's been a long, long day."

"Fine." Dean breathed out. He still wanted to work this out, but maybe it would be better if they slept on it.

"But don't think that you're sleeping in this bed." Pepper added quickly while pointing a finger sharply to the bed beside her.

Dean looked puzzled for a moment, and then he gave a half laugh at the statement.

"Well, guess what, Sweetheart. There are two beds here." Dean pointed out, emphasizing the word 'Sweetheart' because he knows how it irritates her. If she can stay angry then so can he. "I'll just share with Sam."

Sam opened his mouth to reply but was quickly cut off by Pepper.

"Sammy, don't you dare." She warned.

Sam found himself quickly nodding in agreement. He would not deny that sometimes Pepper scared him a lot more than Dean did. If she said that Dean wasn't getting a bed, then he wasn't getting a bed. Simple as that.

Pepper walked towards Dean and stopped when she was standing close enough that she had to tilt her head up to get eye contact.

"You, sleep on the floor." She announced and jabbed a finger painfully into his chest. Then she turned around and walked over to their bed.

Dean stared at her for a long moment. Something in him snapped, and he roughly grabbed a pillow from the bed but instead of throwing it to the floor, he kept it in his hands as he walked out the door. He decided that sleeping in the Impala would be a hell of a lot better than staying here with all this tension flying through the air. Dean could recognize that they needed their space and of course, Pepper could not leave the room. Yet, he couldn't help but slam the door behind him.

Both Sam and Pepper jumped as the door slammed shut. Neither of them had expected him to walk out. Sam sat, completely stunned by what he had just witnessed. When he finally looked away from the door, he caught sight of Pepper, who had finally let her tears fall.

**TBC**

**Next Chapter - Jealousy and Revelations**

**Authors Notes - **_Upcoming smut in the next chapter!_


	5. Jealousy And Revelations

**Authors Notes -**_This chapter was once again inspired by Katy Perry's 'I Kissed A Girl'. This chapter contains smut. I believe that my smut writing is getting a little better, yet I am still not completely happy with it. If you do not want to read the smut simply skip all of the italic parts in this chapter._

_In response to ukfan101 (I just like saying response cause it makes me feel smart lol) to be honest I didn't really think the whole 'Cassie' thing through. Woops. However the way I see it you could take it one of two ways. Either A-Dean had a fight with Cassie and uesed Pepper to start a fight and then break up wiht Cassie. or B-Dean couldn't help sleeping with Pepper when he met up with her because even though he loved Cassie he was/is in love with Pepper. Oh and of course Pregnant Crasy lol. Personally I like B. But like I said I pretty much forgot about it after the chapter. Please forgive me for this and I hope I've made it clearer for yourself and others. I know I made it clearer for me LOL. Thanks for the review!! :)_

**CHAPTER FIVE - JEALOUSY AND REVELATIONS**

_Dean sat quietly at the far corner of the current bar he had found, drinking a tall glass of beer. The place smelled strongly of cigarettes and alcohol, and the air was filled with the sounds of random chatter as well as the soft music drifting from the jukebox._

_Dean looked down into his glass and sighed, grateful to relax for a night. The main door opened and a gust of night air blew across his face. His curiosity caused him to look up to see who had entered or left the bar. He was pleasantly surprised to see Pepper walking towards him. He gave her a half crocked smile before letting his eyes travel over her figure. Her hair was flowing over her shoulders and she was wearing a tight fitting red silk dress that stopped mid thigh and clung to her body perfectly. There was something different about her but Dean couldn't put his finger on what._

_She sat down in the empty seat opposite him and ran a perfectly manicured nail over the rim of his glass._

_"Well, are you just going to sit there and stare or are you going to buy me a drink?" Pepper asked._

_Dean grinned, "Babe, I'll buy you whatever you want."_

_"Let's just start with that drink." Pepper replied with a seductive grin._

_Dean nodded and waved over the young bar waitress. He quickly ordered a round of Vodka shots and handed the waitress enough bills so that the drinks would keep coming. While waiting for their first round, Dean suddenly felt Pepper's toes slide up under the leg of his jeans, causing him to shift in his seat. She certainly knew how to excite him with just the barest of touches._

_He cleared his throat to get his brain to focus on actually saying something. "Wasn't expecting to see you here tonight." He said._

_Pepper shrugged just as their drinks arrived. "More fun here with you, then being all by myself at home." She replied while leaning across the table towards him._

_Dean leaned in that little extra bit until their lips touched. Pepper's tongue lightly trailed over Dean's bottom lip. When Dean opened his mouth to her, Pepper wasted no time as she started sucking on his tongue. Several moments later she pulled away, leaving Dean breathless as she downed her first shot. Dean managed to compose himself before picking up his own shot. He paused as the glass touched his lips because her foot and moved higher up his leg, and was now running along the inside of his thigh. Dean managed to take his drink while Pepper casually gestured that they'd need more._

_Dean was too distracted by Pepper's foot that he hadn't notice the door open, or that Bella was the one to enter. It wasn't until Bella walked over to him and cleared her throat that Dean registered that she was there. Dean and Pepper turned to look at her, though Pepper didn't remove her foot which was moving higher and higher._

_"Dean. Pepper. Fancy seeing you two here." Bella said in that condescending British tone of hers._

_"Bella," Dean replied slowly. "Piss off." He snapped and took drank down the last of his beer._

_"Mind if I join you?" Bella asked, ignoring Dean's order._

_She sat herself down in the seat beside Pepper before Dean could even open his mouth to tell her no. For some reason the two seats the girls were on were rather close to one another, which unsettled Dean a bit._

_"What part of 'piss off' did you not understand?" Dean asked while glaring at Bella._

_Dean was getting fondled under the table by Pepper and Bella was making it almost impossible to enjoy just by being there. Almost. The woman really was a bitch._

_"Oh, come now, Dean." Bella slowly replied. She lazily draped one arm around Pepper's shoulders, "Be a bit more generous." She paused briefly to scrape a nail over Pepper's collar bone lightly. Her eyes slowly moving from her hand then back to Dean's gaze. "Learn to share."_

_With that, Bella tugged on Pepper until she turned towards her. The two women began kissing each other. Their kiss was slow, almost as if they were simply putting on a show just for Dean. Normally, Dean would love having two women trying to arouse him, after all it was the fantasy to beat all fantasies but it was hard to enjoy it when one of those women was Bella and she was touching his girlfriend._

_Dean stood from his seat and quickly moved over to Pepper. He grabbed her arm and pulled her out of her chair and away from Bella. Pepper stumbled slightly but adjusted herself quickly to her new position. She looked up at him and smiled sweetly before placing her hands on the back of Dean's neck and leaning in so her lips were barely touching his ear._

_"I think..." Pepper began slowly. She trailed one hand down from his neck, his chest, going lower and lower. "...we should move this to some place more comfortable."_

_Dean closed his eyes and paused when Pepper's hand reached his belt. "Please tell me 'we' is just referring to you and I?" He asked._

_"Spoilsport." Bella said behind them._

_"It'll be fun," Pepper whispered. "I promise."_

_Her hand was now placed against the ever present bulge in his pants. Rubbing it slowly, but firmly. Dean took in a sharp hitch of breath, trying to focus on the situation at hand and not on what she was doing to him. Dean became torn because on the one hand he'd rather see Bella under a bus than naked in a bed with Pepper and himself, but on the other hand Pepper really seemed to want it and what she was doing to him felt so good that he didn't want it to stop._

_He closed his eyes and tried one more time to regroup his thoughts, and that wasn't exactly easy when you're sporting an erection. Finally, he decided that going along with this entire idea had more benefits for him then going against it would. And agree would mean that Pepper would continue doing what she was doing._

_"Fine." Dean nodded and opened his eyes. "Let's go." He tugged Pepper against him and whispered into her ear, "But you're staying close to me."_

_Pepper simply grinned and kissed him._

* * *

_The hotel room they went to had a king-sized bed, a mini bar next to a large stereo and entertainment system with a large balcony over-looking the lights of the city below them. The lights in the room were set to a low dim, casting everything in shadow._

_Pepper walked towards the bed, but stopped just a few steps away and turned to face Dean. Slowly, she lifted a finger and gestured for Dean to come closer. Well, Dean wasn't going to say no to her especially when she was in this state. He walked over to her and placed his hands on her hips, moving them up and down so that the silky material of her dress moved seamlessly across her skin. Dean pulled her against him before capturing her lips with his own. He sighed into her mouth and if it were possible, he pulled her even closer. Kissing Pepper was just enough to distract him from the fact that they weren't the only two people in the room._

_Bella walked over to the entertainment system and turned the radio on. Quickly the room was filled with the sounds of soft jazz music. Dean barely registered this as most of his attention was on Pepper and the fact that she was now removing his jacket and shirt. As they pulled apart so that Pepper could get his shirt over his head, Dean felt Bella move in behind him and tensed up. He really didn't want Bella to touch him. Then again he didn't exactly want her to touch Pepper either. He quickly sighed in relief when he felt Bella walk away and out of the corner of his eye he saw her sit on the edge of the bed._

_Dean's focus was brought back to Pepper when she let out an approving little hum as she lightly dragged her fingernails across his nipples. She began kissing a trail across his jaw and up to his ear where she nibbled on the lobe. Dean's eyes closed as his hips involuntarily thrust against Pepper's. She smiled when she felt this then began to skillfully unbuckle his belt. She started sucking on his ear lobe once more as her fingers unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans. Dean's breathed hitched when Pepper pushed her hand into his fly and wrapped it around his erection. Her hand moved up and down making Dean groan._

_"Nice." Pepper smirked before kissing the corner of his opened mouth._

_Dean managed to compose himself enough to growl, "You haven't seen nothin' yet."_

_She took his bottom lip between her teeth and chewed it gently as her hand continued running up and down his penis. His fingers dug into her hips a little more._

_"She's good isn't she?" Bella stated._

_Dean opened his eyes and shot a glare in Bella's direction. Bella was now lying across the bed, propped up on some pillows while watching them as Pepper continued to give Dean a hand job. Bella had the perfect side view of the young couple. Dean's glare disappeared when Pepper's thumb brushed over his the head of his penis, causing him to hiss between his clenched teeth._

_"She's always been good with her hands." Bella continued, pausing briefly to trail a hand down her side and along the inside of her legs. "Especially in certain places."_

_Dean oh so wanted to kick Bella out, even if she had paid for the room. He did not like her getting off on what Pepper was doing to him. He was about to tell her to shut up when Pepper suddenly sank down onto her knees in front of him. Her eyes locked with his as she ran her tongue across the tip, lapping up a few drops of pre cum._

_"Oh, god." Dean moaned as his eyes drifted close once again._

_Bella chuckled, "She's even better with her mouth."_

_This brought some of Dean's attention back to Bella, well about five percent of his attention and even just that small percent was fading as Pepper ran her tongue up and down his penis._

_"Is it weird?" Bella asked suddenly. "Seeing Pepper here be so....adventurous when it comes to sex, so wild."_

_"You don't know what you're talking about." Dean snapped._

_By this point, Pepper had taken all of him into her mouth, and god did it feel good. It was hard for Dean to focus on his own name let alone being mad at Bella._

_"Oh, but I do." Bella added, leaning forward slightly. "She's always held back with you, hasn't she? Letting you take most of the control whenever you've got her completely naked before you?" A slow smile spread across her lips as she continued. "With me though, she's wild. Always has been. Pepper knows how to take what she wants, when she wants it." Bella chuckled and added, "Just proves who she really wants to be with, now doesn't it?"_

_"She's with me an' not you." Dean said through deep breaths and gritted teeth._

_"Only because you're convenient." answered Bella._

_At that, Pepper let Dean slip from her mouth. She licked her lips and slowly stood up._

_"She's right, you know." She told Dean._

_Dean stared at her. He had not expected her to say something like that. He hadn't expected her to agree with Bella. He watched, stunned, as she stepped away from him and made her way over to the bed and to Bella. Once she reached the bed, Pepper crawled across Bella before sitting by Bella's side, on her knees. Bella kept her eyes on Dean as Pepper touched her shoulder. Dean felt the anger burn deeper within him when Bella placed her hands on Pepper's legs. Then, Bella slowly dragged the material of Pepper's dress higher and higher until it bunched up around her hips._

_"Mmm. Smooth." Bella commented._

_She dragged her eyes away from Dean momentarily so that she could help Pepper out of her dress. The clothing was pulled over Pepper's head before Bella tossed it to the side. Now that her dress was gone, Pepper was left in only her high heels and red thong. Bella began trailing her hands all over Pepper's body, spending extra time on her breasts, stomach, and ass. Pepper just hummed and allowed Bella to do whatever she wanted._

_Dean stood paralyzed and watched what was happening on the bed. He tried to move but he couldn't. Literally could not move. It was as if some invisible force was keeping him in place and forcing him to suffer this hell. Which is what it was. Hell. What other word would he use to describe having to stand there and watch while someone else touches his girl._

_Dean was shocked at how casual Pepper seemed to be. She was the only one out of all of them that had most of their clothes off (and yes, Dean did have his shirt off and his dick out, but at least he still had his pants on) and yet she wasn't bothered in the slightest._

_"Don't you just wish that she'd be like this with you?" Bella asked as she pinched Pepper's nipples between her thumbs and fingers. She paused while Pepper moaned, her head tossed back before she added, "This outgoing?"_

_"I never wanted you to be 'outgoing', Pepper." Dean told her, though he wasn't sure if she was paying attention to anything he said at this point. "I didn't want you to be wild either. I just wanted you to be happy."_

_Bella moved her hands lower and started lightly tickling Pepper's ribcage, which allowed her answer Dean without being too distracted._

_"You've made me happy, Dean." She said, although her eyes were locked with Bella's. "Just not...you know, deliriously happy."_

_"What?" Dean asked. His voice suddenly small and quiet._

_This was not good._

_"Now, Dean, it's not like this is new information." said Bella._

_Bella then used her hands that where now on Pepper's waist and pulled the blonde closer to her. Pepper went willingly and the two collided in a passionate kiss. Much more demanding than their previous one at the bar. When they pulled apart, Bella turned to look back at Dean._

_"You've always known that you weren't giving our girl what she needs."_

_"She is not 'our' girl!" Dean yelled angrily._

_Bella simply laughed and shook her head, "You wanna bet? Watch this then."_

_Bella moved one hand down and into Pepper's thong. Her hand began moving rapidly in circles while Pepper threw her head back on a loud moan of "Oooh". The two women started to kiss once more as Bella lowered Pepper onto her back while still keeping her hand in her thong._

_Dean suddenly got a very strong sick feeling deep in his gut as he watched Bella move down Pepper's body, taking her thong with her. The sound of Pepper moaning soon drowned out everything else and all Dean could do was stand there while--_

--Dean's eyes snapped opened and he sat upright from his slumped position. His breathing was faster than normal and a thin layer of sweat covered his entire body. Closing his eyes, he took a few deep breaths to even out his breathing. It isn't until he opens his eyes again that he realizes he's in the Impala. At least he's in a familiar place. That's got to be something right?

It takes him a while to remember the reason why he's waking up in the Impala at 3:44AM and not in a motel room. He'd had a fight with Pepper, and it had been one of the biggest ones they'd ever had.

He folded his arms over the steering wheel then placed his head on his arms with a loud sigh. He could not get his stupid dream out of his head and that annoyed him. It didn't make a lot of sense. Normally if he dreamed about two women having sex, he'd wake up feeling aroused, with a hard on but, this time the arousal was replaced by...something else. Something that Dean couldn't pin point but whatever it was he didn't like feeling it.

He started to wish that his father hadn't sent them here. This hunt, which should have been pretty basic, had turned into a full blown friggin' drama. Dean was inclined to blame the entire thing on Bella, even though he knew that she couldn't be blamed for his one actions. Anger began bubbling up within him at the thought of Bella. Man, he hated that woman. What right did she have to talk about his relationship with Pepper? It wasn't her business. Dean suddenly realized that that was why the dream had freaked him out so much. It wasn't really seeing Bella with Pepper, it was hearing the two of them tell him in not so many words that he wasn't what Pepper wanted, or needed.

It was then that Dean was able to put a label to how he was feeling. Insecurity. Deep insecurity. Something that he'd never felt with any of his other girlfriends. In all the years he'd known her, Dean never thought that he truly deserved her. After all, she could be with anyone that she wanted. And while he didn't fear much (except the obvious such as Yellow Eyes getting his hands on Sam.) he did fear that Pepper was simply settling for him because she's pregnant with his child. Sure she cared about him but that didn't mean that there wasn't someone else out there for her. Someone who could make her happy without the extra drama that he carried around with him every day.

He sat in thought for a few minutes. Then he leaned back and brought one hand up to rub his forehead. He tried to release some of the tension that had built up but nothing helped. He checked the time again, 4:09AM. He knew that he wasn't going to be able to let this go or go back to sleep until he talked to Pepper. He made his decision and slowly got out of the car.

* * *

Dean entered the dark motel room, silently pleased that he'd still had the key on him when he'd walked out, and let his eyes adjust to the lack of light. Once he could see properly he quickly scanned the room. Sam was snoring lightly as he stretched out on his stomach, one arm around his pillow. You'd never guess to look at him that he'd spent most of yesterday tripping over his own feet. Dean looked away from his brother and went to walk over to the other bed but stopped when he saw that Pepper wasn't in it.

A fresh feeling of panic quickly washed over him. His eyes darted around the room. With everything that had been running through his mind over the last couple of hours not seeing Pepper where she should be was definitely freaking him out and making him think the worse. He rushed over to his brother but just before he was able to wake him up, he heard the sound of water running coming from the bathroom. Dean let out a breath that he didn't even know he'd been holding them moved over to the bathroom door. Now that he was paying attention he could see the faint light peeking out from under the door.

He brought one hand up and lightly tapped the door. He heard the water stop running and knew that Pepper was contemplating on whether or not she wanted to let him in, though she probably thought he was Sam.

"Hey, Pep. Can I come in?" He asked quietly and waited on bated breath for a response. "I think we should talk." He added after a long stretch of silence.

"No." Pepper replied.

Dean sighed and placed his forehead against the bathroom door.

"Please?" He sighed.

A moment later he heard the gentle click before the door opened. He took half a step back out of the way just encase Pepper decided to slam the door on his face. And when she did open the door she didn't look happy. Her arms were folded defensively across her chest, and her entire posture was very guarded. She'd changed into her pajamas, now wearing a pair of cotton shorts and matching tank top. She quickly looked him up and down before finally stepping back to allow him to enter the bathroom. Well, at least she was willing to give him a chance to talk.

Dean stepped inside and closed the door behind him, so they wouldn't wake Sam. Dean took in a few deep breaths because he knows that he needs to say the right words, otherwise they may just end up going around in circles.

"Look, Dean if you wanna talk, talk." Pepper said, when Dean remained silent. "But it's late and I'm too tired to stand here for the rest of the night."

"I um, I had this dream." Dean began, avoiding eye contact. "When I was outside."

"A dream?" She asked skeptically.

Dean nodded, "Yeah. You and I were there and so was Bella. And the two of you were...close"

"Oh, my god." Pepper exclaimed, which made Dean look up at her. "Dean, what on earth would make you think that I'd ever want to hear about one of your sex dreams?" She demanded.

"No." Dean quickly shook his head. "That's not what I mean. I just," He sighed. "It made me realize that I shouldn't have acted the way that I did. You know, when I found out about you and her. Pepper, I don't like thinking about or seeing you with someone else. Plus I was surprised to find out that you and Bella had dated. I never pictured you as..." He trailed off, waving one hand in the air.

"Get to the point, Dean." Pepper sighed.

"I don't like the idea of you with someone else because I like to think that you're mine." He explained. He knew he had said the wrong thing when her eyes flashed a darker shade indicating that she was furious.

"I don't belong to you Dean." She told him angrily.

"Argh." Dean deeply sighed in frustration. "I'm not saying this right." He ran both hands over his face. This was harder than he had thought it would be. He tried to compose himself so that he could try this again properly. "Pepper, I don't think you belong to me, or that I own you-"

"-Then why say it?" Pepper demanded.

"I just meant that, I like to think that you and I...I don't know belong together I guess. I've never seen myself being with anybody else the way I am with you. Even without the baby." He explained and prayed that he was saying the right words. "Look, I'm not great with this whole 'relationship' thing, and ours is the longest one I've had with any woman. I know that I'm never going to find any one like you, but I know that it's not the same for you."

"What?" She asked. A slight expression of confusion came across her face. "Dean, what are you talking about?"

"Nothing," Dean sighed. "It's just some things that Bella said."

"Bella?"

"Yeah, she may be a scheming two-faced bitch, but she sure as hell knows how to get under someone's skin."

"Yeah." Pepper agreed. "So, what was it that she said?"

"Doesn't really matter. She just got me thinking about some things. Things I already know."

"Things about me?" Pepper asked with a frown.

"Sort of." He replied. "I know I shouldn't let things like that get to me especially if it's coming from Bella but it's hard not too sometimes." He let out a long sigh and looked down at the floor, unable to keep Pepper's gaze any longer. "There's gotta be someone out there who's better for you than I am and I'm just... I'm worried that you'll figure that out."

"Dean..." Pepper breathed.

"Pep, you and this baby are the best things to happen to me in...well so long. I don't exactly get many good things coming to me with the life I have. And god knows I haven't done anything to deserve you." He slowly shook his head and continued, "I just had to tell you that because I don't want you to feel like you have to be with me just because of the baby."

Because Dean refused to bring his head up, too scared of what Pepper's reaction would be, he didn't know that her entire posture had softened. She was now looking at him with unshed tears in her bright blue eyes. Eyes that held so much love for him whenever she looked at him.

"And hey," Dean began. "If you don't stay with me then I want you to know that I'll still do whatever I can to help." He shrugged slightly. "I don't know what exactly I could do to help. I mean, it's not like I have much to offer but I'll try."

Suddenly and without warning, Pepper moved towards Dean and lifted her head to just the right angle before she pressed her lips against his. It was awkward with the way Dean's head was still bent down. As soon as he felt her lips on his, Dean's eyes snapped open wide in shock. He had never expected her to kiss him. After several minutes, Pepper pulled back yet she still remained close and Dean finally looked at her. His eyes full of question and hope.

Pepper's expression gave nothing away which made the sudden slap against his cheek even more of a surprise.

"Don't you ever make me feel anything like what you made me feel yesterday ever again." She warned. A single tear escaped down her cheek.

Dean nodded mutely, still shocked from the slap. He couldn't verbally agree with her right this second but he would never hurt her like that again. At least, not intentionally. Pepper gently placed both hands flat on his chest and took a deep breath before she spoke.

"Dean, I love you. So much, that I've never loved anyone the way that I love you. I don't think that it's possible to be honest." She told him softly. "You're more that I could ever want. You always have been." She paused and ran her fingers up his chest to his neck and splayed them under his ears. "I don't want you to worry that you aren't good enough for me, for us because you are. I really do love you."

Dean nodded and wrapped his arms loosely around her lower back, gently pulling her against him. As he feels her lean against him, Dean relaxed for the first time since waking up in the Impala. It was weird, but it actually felt good to hear her say she loved him. He hadn't realized that he needed to hear it. He pulled back just enough to place one hand against her stomach. He closed his eyes and imagined that he could feel the baby growing underneath his hand. He stared down at his hand and only looked up when he felt Pepper sigh.

"I still don't know how you can have so much faith in me."

Shaking her head slightly, Pepper replied, "I trust you. You're a good man with a good heart and I know that you'd never hurt me on purpose. And more importantly," She paused and smiled. "I know that you love me."

Dean leaned down and carefully kissed her, his hand still resting on her stomach.

"Come on, let's go to bed." Pepper whispers as they pull apart.

"No sleeping in the car?" He half joked as Pepper took hold of his hand.

"Well, not tonight." She smirked while leading him out of the bathroom.

* * *

When Sam woke up that morning, he sat up in bed and cracked his neck and shoulders with a yawn. He hoped that today would be less stressful than yesterday had been, on all of them. Sam also hoped that Pepper was feeling better this morning. After Dean had left the night before, she barely said anything apart from explaining how she got a cab to the cemetery because she didn't trust Bella not to try something. Other than that she'd been quite.

He turned to check if Pepper was awake yet and smiled at what he saw. Lying with Pepper was Dean, with his arms draped around her. In all honesty, Sam wasn't that surprised. He knew that eventually the pair would make up and he knew that it would be sooner than later. Obviously, they had talked while Sam was sleeping though he did not know exactly when.

After watching the couple for a few minutes, Sam just had to chuckle to himself at how peaceful they both looked. No one would have been able to tell that they'd been fighting hours earlier. Sam shook his head before checking the time. It was still early, only 7:26AM so he decided to sleep in a little bit longer. He laid back down and closed his eyes, a small smile remaining on his lips.

****

TBC

Next Chapter - Hello Mr. Trickster


	6. Hello Mr Trickster

**Authors Notes -** _This is my take on the season 2 episodes 'Hunted' and 'Tall Tales', though it is mostly about 'Tall Tales'. The only reason 'Hunted' is here is so I could casually mention the 'Special Children' because I am sneaky like that. Why did I write a chapter for 'Tall Tales'…? Because it is awesome! LOL. Also for some reason I found it very hard to write John into the chapter because Bobby already had all the information the boys needed._

**CHAPTER SIX - HELLO MR. TRICKSTER  
**  
Dean pulled the Impala up to the front of the RoadHouse. During the entire ride there, Sam had been extremely quiet and Dean could guess that there was some serious messed up stuff going on inside his head. Guilt mostly. Guilt over what happened or may have happened to Ava. This being the case, Dean knew that there was nothing he could say to make his brother feel better and in all honesty, Dean didn't want to think about it too much either. Seeing the state of Ava's apartment simply made Dean realize just what Yellow Eyes could be capable of which made Dean nervous. What if the same thing happened to Sam? What if what happened to Ava's fiancé happened to him? Or worse, what if it happened to Pepper?

At least one good thing came out of this situation. They would never have to deal with Gordon ever again. That man, in Dean's opinion, was just clinically insane and there was no better place for him than behind bars.

As Dean turned off the engine, he glanced down at his watch. It was almost 1:00AM and as much as Dean wished that Pepper and the others would be asleep when they walked in, he knew that they would all be up and waiting for them. He leaned over and opened his door pausing slightly to look back at Sam.

"Jus' warning you, ah, Pep's not too happy with you." He warned.

It wasn't only Pepper who was mad at Sam. Dean was as well and they both had good reason to be. Sam really had no right to leave the way he had without even so much as a note of explanation, and with Pepper's hormones all over the place she'd gone into a panic which was one of the reasons why Dean had taken her to Ellen's while he looked for Sam. Ellen was able to calm her down when no one else could because Ellen had actually gone through pregnancy herself.

"Right," Sam nodded before getting out of the car.

Dean shook his head then followed his brother up to the front door of the RoadHouse.

* * *

Before Dean had even stepped out of the doorway, Pepper had run over to him and flung herself into his arms causing him to stumble slightly as he had not expected her to hug him.

"Thank god." She sighed and held him tighter. "I've been so worried."

Dean over her shoulder to Ellen, who was leaning against the bar calmly, watching them. Dean knew that he'd have to apologize for accusing her of telling people about Sam's abilities. After a moment, Dean gently pulled Pepper away from him.

"You know me," He shrugged. "Just another day on the job."

"That's not funny." She frowned before turning to Sam, who was trying to blend into the wall to avoid Pepper's anger. Didn't work though. "And you! What the hell is your problem?" She demanded, glaring sharply at him.

"Ah..."

"What was going through your head that made you think it'd be okay to just take off like that?"

"I...nothing. I'm sorry." Sam replied softly.

Pepper looked at him for a long moment, taking in his appearance. She could tell that he was tired, even more so than Dean must be which was understandable after what he'd been through. Her expression quickly softened and she moved towards him.

"I'm just glad that you're okay." She told him while placing a hand on his shoulder.

Sam nodded and leaned down slightly so Pepper could hug him. When they pulled back, Dean reached out and tugged on her elbow, guiding her towards the bar.

"I'm glad you boys are both ok." Ellen told them.

"Thanks." Sam muttered as he sat down.

"Yeah, and hey about what I said before--" Dean began.

"--Don't worry about it." Ellen replied, gracefully accepting his apology. "If it had been my family I would have done the same thing. But next time try not to put me in the middle."

Sam nodded, "Yeah thanks for not listening to me and for sending Dean. If you hadn't I'd probably be dead right now."

"Well, he did deserve to know where you were." Ellen agreed, "Besides I didn't want to stress Pepper out anymore that what she was."

"I was worried." Pepper said with a small shrug.

After Dean and Pepper took their own seats, Ellen poured them all some drinks. Beers for herself, the boys, and a glass of water for Pepper. After several minutes of random conversations, Pepper leaned over towards Sam. He was still being quiet with his head bent down over his drink.

"Hey, you ok?" She asked, gently placing a hand on his arm.

"Sure."

"Really? Because you don't look ok."

Sam sighed, "It's just been a long night."

"Well come on then, tell me what happened?"

Sam paused, and quickly glanced at his brother who was busy having a conversation with Ellen. Again, Sam sighed, as he suddenly felt guilty over having walked out on Dean and Pepper the way he had. Sure he had his reasons that they may not understand but in hindsight he should have explained them all first. He turned back to Pepper and saw the genuine concern in her eyes. It was nice that she cared about him.

"I just," Sam sighed. "I should have been able to save her. Ava."

"Oh. I didn't really get much details out of Ellen, but Ava, she was-is like you. Right?"

"Yeah." Sam huffed out a laugh. "One of the 'special children' whose supposed to be a soldier for the Demon--"

"--Sammy, you are not 'supposed' to be anything for anyone unless you want to be."

Sam shook his head, "Haven't you heard, it's my destiny."

"Well, I don't believe in destiny." Pepper replied

"You don't?"

Pepper smiled and lightly shook her head, "No. Not at all. I believe that we decide what we do and when we do it. I mean it wasn't some destiny that led me to meet Dean all those years ago, and it's not destiny that keeps me here now."

Sam's lips turned up ever so slightly. "So, no destiny was involved in you getting pregnant with Dean's baby?" He asked before taking a long drink from his beer.

Pepper laughed, "No, no destiny. Just stupidity and lack of condoms."

At that, Sam nearly choked on his beer. He started coughing and spitting the drink back out while Pepper tried to suppress the chuckle as she patted his back. Dean and Ellen had heard the commotion and had stopped talking to and focused their attention on Sam.

"Dude, you are such a light weight." Dean teased.

"Not...my...fault." Sam said between deep breaths.

Pepper shrugged, "We were just talking." She said innocently.

"Well, it's been a long night, for everyone." Ellen began. "So I say we all finish this later and get some rest."

"I think that's a good idea." Pepper agreed through a yawn.

"We'll have to leave pretty early tomorrow." said Dean.

"You're welcome to stay as long as you like you know." said Ellen.

"Yeah," Dean slowly replied while rubbing the back of his neck. "It's just that with everything that happened with Gordon, maybe it'd be better if we kept our distances for a while."

"Dean, you don't still think I had anything to do with that?" Ellen demanded.

"No, but someone here knew about Sam, and they told Gordon." Dean replied. "I'm just thinking that if they figured that out they may have just figured out some other things as well."

"Like me being pregnant?"

"Yeah," Dean nodded. "I mean, I know that you wouldn't tell anyone Ellen, but someone else might and it's not like we can really hide it anymore. I don't want to deal with someone like Gordon again."

"Believe me nothing is going to happen. Pepper's grown up here and everyone here knows not to mess with her or Jo." Ellen explained. "Bobby's got a lot of pull with these people."

"I thought no one else knew that Pepper was Bobby's granddaughter?" Sam asked with a frown.

"They don't but they do know that she has some connection with him." Ellen explained. She paused and sighed. "But tell you what, I'll get the word out that Pepper is completely off limits."

"I guess that's the best we can hope for." said Dean.

"Ellen," Sam began. "If it's that simple then couldn't you have a word to everyone about me?"

"No, Sweetie, you and your family are a while other story." Ellen explained. "Your dad's made some enemies around these parts, so you're lucky it's only been Gordon you've dealt with so far."

"Dear old dad." Dean sighed. He shook his head and finished his drink.

Eventually they all retreated to bed and even though Dean had wanted to get an early start, none of them woke up until after 10:00AM the next day.

* * *

It was weeks later when Dean, Sam and Pepper found themselves in the middle of another hunt. This hunt was a lot more difficult than any other they had faced and the more they investigated it the more bizarre it got. And what was making it even more difficult was the fact that they'd all been on each other's nerves for the last few days, with Sam and Dean doing a lot of the arguing.

At the moment, it was just after 1:00PM and the three of them were waiting in their new motel room. Dean was stretched out comfortably on one of the queen-sized beds eating a plate of very greasy fries while listening to the radio. He was purposely ignoring Sam as he and Pepper sat on the sofa researching.

Sam glanced up from the book he was reading and sighed in his brother's direction.

"Dude, you mind not eating those on my bed?"

Grabbing another handful of fries, Dean just shook his head. "No, I don't mind." He replied before chomping down on more fries. After he swallowed, he grinned and added; "besides I can't eat them on my bed. The after smell might make Pepper sick."

"Then eat at the table in the kitchen." Sam replied with another sigh.

Dean shrugged, clearly content to keep eating where he was because it annoyed Sam so much.

"How's the research going?" Dean asked.

"You know how it's going?" Sam demanded, slamming the book shut. "Slow."

Beside him, Pepper shook her head and sighed as she continued to read her own book. She preferred to stay out of their arguments though lately that was becoming extremely difficult to do.

"You know how it would go a heck of a lot faster?" Sam asked Dean, with a high note of irritation in his voice. "If I had my computer."

"Mmm." Dean rolled his eyes.

"Can you turn that down, please?" Sam asked, pointing to the radio.

"Yeah," Dean nodded and reached for the volume of the radio. "Absolutely." Instead of turning it down, he turned it up.

The loud almost deafening music filled the room. Sam was about to yell at Dean to turn it down when Pepper beat him to it.

"Please, Dean." She sighed, shaking her head.

Dean quickly turned the radio completely off. While annoying Sam was fun, he did not want to start annoying Pepper, at least not intentionally since she was now nearly six months pregnant.

"You know what? Maybe you should go somewhere for a while, huh?" Sam suggested.

Dean folded his arms across his stomach and glared back at Sam. "Hey, I'd love to. That's a great idea." He sarcastically replied. "Unfortunately, my cars all screwed to hell."

"Dean, I told you I have nothing to do with--"

Sam was interrupted by the loud knocking on the door. He and Dean turned their attention in direction of the door while Pepper sighed and stood up.

"Oh, thank Christ." She muttered while slowly making her way to answer the door.

She quickly looked through the peephole to make sure the people on the other side were who she thought they would be before she swung the door open.

"Hi, Granddad. John." She greeted them warmly and hugged them both briefly much to John's surprise. "Thank you for coming."

Behind them, Sam and Dean both stood and moved to meet them. John took a few moments to take in Pepper's appearance as they all made their way to the middle of the room. It had been a few weeks since he had seen any of them (excluding Bobby) and even though he knew just how far along she was, it was still strange to see her expanding belly up close. Seeing her made him realize that soon he'd have a little granddaughter.

"So..." Bobby began, taking in how Sam, Dean and Pepper were reacting. "What's going on?"

Pepper lifted an arm and pointing directly at the brothers while still looking at Bobby and John.

"You deal with them." She said, almost like an order. "I'm having a shower."

With that, she turned and walked into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. John and Bobby returned their attention to Dean and Sam after the bathroom door closed. Both boys were looking a little sheepish which caused Bobby's expression to become sterner as it always did these days when he thought Dean was upsetting Pepper.

"You wanna tell me what that was about?" Bobby demanded in a flat tone.

"Would you believe me if I said hormones?" Dean joked on a half laugh, but when Bobby didn't see the humor he added, "Ok. Um, it's just this hunts sort of..."

"It's been a difficult few days." Sam supplied. "For all of us."

"Ok, so why don't you tell us what's going on." John suggested. "Why couldn't you tell us on the phone?"

"Well, we weren't sure you'd believe us." Sam slowly explained.

"Between us we can believe a lot of things." said Bobby, nodding towards John.

"Yeah, I know." said Sam. "It's just; we've never seen anything like it."

"Not even close." Dean agreed.

"And we thought we could use some fresh eyes."

Bobby sighed, "Why don't you begin at the beginning?"

"Yeah," Sam nodded.

He moved and sat down on the edge of the small coffee table in front of the sofa and faced Bobby and John. Dean sat back down on Sam's bed; Bobby sat on the other bed while John remained standing.

"So, it all started when we caught wind of an obit..." Sam began.

* * *

_Dean leaned in against the bar of the popular college bar, taking shot after shot of some purple colored liquid. Just as he downed the last one, Sam walked towards him._

_"Dean, what are you drinking?" Sam asked with a deep frown. _

_Dean let out a burp then grinned. "I don't know, man. I think they're called purple nurples..." He trailed off with a laugh._

_"Listen, I think maybe we should go check out the professor's office."_

_"Oh, no. No. I can't right now." Dean replied shaking his head. "Because I got something going on here." He pointed behind him to a young blonde-haired woman in tacky fishnets and heels. "I'll introduce you." Dean turned and grabbed the attention of said blonde. "Hey, Starla!"_

_The girl, Starla grinned and clumsily stepped towards Dean. She leaned against his shoulder and eyed Sam up and down. _

_"This is my shuttle co-pilot, Major Tom. Major Tom, Starla." Dean grinned as he introduced his brother to the girl._

_"Hi." Sam said slowly with a hint of distaste._

"You did WHAT!" Bobby demanded, glaring forcefully at Dean.

"What. No, no." Dean quickly replied, holding his hands up in defense. "That is not how it happened."

"No?" Sam asked. "So you've never drank a purple nurple?"

"Yeah, maybe that." Dean slowly agreed. Then he turned to Sam, "But I can hold my liquor better and I don't go around hitting on drunken college girls."

Sam scoffed, rolled his eyes and muttered, "Yeah right."

"Ok, so I used to do that, but not since Pepper got pregnant." Dean snapped defensively then he turned to Bobby and said, "I swear that's the truth." In the most serious voice he could.

"Then tell us what did happen with this Starla?" John suggested.

"I don't know." Dean shrugged. "I was drinking and she was a little drunk. She kept flirting with me but I told her I wasn't interested."

* * *

_Dean happily drank down the drinks of Purple Nurples while watching the young blonde that had been eyeing him off since he'd bought his drinks. As he finished his last shot, the girl walked up beside him._

_"Hey, cutie." She smiled at him. "Feel like buying a girl a drink?"_

_"Ah, well I can't say that I'm not flattered, but--"_

_"--Dean, what do you think you're doing!" Sam demanded._

_Dean stood straighter, then turned around to face his brother. Sam was frowning deeply at him._

_"Sam, just give me a minute here, ok." Dean said before turning back to the girl._

_Dean had a lot of experience in dealing with extremely drunk and horny women so he wanted to make sure that she was ok, or at the very least that she wasn't alone. For some reason, Sam didn't understand that._

_"Dean, this is a very serious investigation. We don't have time for any of your blah blah blah blah blah...!"_

* * *

"Right," Sam drawled out. "And that's how it really happened."

Dean shrugged, "Well that's more believable than your version where I cheated on Pepper."

"I never said that you cheated on her, just that you were drunk." Sam shot back. "And I don't sound like that, Dean."

"That's what you sound like to me."

"Okay." Bobby said loudly, drawing the brother's attention to him. "What's going on with you two?"

"Nothing. It's nothing." Sam muttered.

"Sam," said John.

"You're bickering like an old married couple." Bobby added.

"No, see, married couples can get divorced. Me and him? We're like Siamese twins." said Dean.

"It's conjoined twins!" Sam corrected irritably.

At that moment, Pepper walked out of the bathroom toweling her hair dry.

"Oh, no. You're not at it again are you?" She sighed.

"No." Both Sam and Dean answered.

Pepper shook her head and tossed the towel back into the bathroom before sitting down besides Bobby.

"I've had to put up with this," Pepper paused and gestured towards the brothers. "For days now. Honestly it's like living with the old men from the Muppets."

Dean thought for a second then frowned. "Pep, are you saying I'm old?" He asked.

"No, I'm saying that you have the brain capacity of a Muppet." She snapped.

Sam chuckled so Pepper turned to glare at him.

"Don't you start, Sammy. You're just as bad as he is."

That effectively shut Sam up.

John watched the interaction between his sons and Pepper. He realized that whatever was going on between the three of them was making his sons fight as they had when they were teenagers.

"What's going on?" John asked, "You've been at each other's throats since we came in."

"It's nothing, we've just been on the road for too long." said Sam quickly. "Tight quarters, and all that." He sighed, "Don't worry about it."

"Okay." Bobby nodded singling that they should continue with their story.

"So, anyway, we figured it might be a haunting, so we went to check out the scene of the crime..."

* * *

_Sam and Dean walked into their motel room, where Pepper had been waiting for them to get back._

_"How'd it go?" She asked them._

_"Well, no traces of EMF, that's for sure." Sam replied._

_"Yeah, and that Room 669, was a load of crap." Dean added._

_He walked over to the fridge and pulled out three bottles, some beers for himself and Sam and a bottle of soda water for Pepper. He handed the drinks out and watched as Sam set up his computer at the table._

_"So, are you saying that this is all just...you know, normal?" Pepper asked, sitting down opposite Sam. She took a few mouthfuls of water before adding, "That the Professor just jumped because he wanted to."_

_"I don't know." Dean answered honestly. "I mean, the girl the janitor described... That's pretty weird?"_

_"Yeah." Sam nodded in agreement._

_"Okay, so what do you want to do now?" Pepper asked as she looked up at Dean._

_"Guess we could check out the history of the building." Dean suggested thoughtfully. "See if any co-ed ganked herself there."_

_Sam nodded and looked down at his computer. He suddenly frowned and pressed a few keys on the keyboard. After a few moments, he looked up at Dean with frustration._

_"Dude, were you on my computer?" _

_"No" Dean replied._

_"Oh, really? 'Cause it's frozen now, on..." Sam paused and looked back that the webpage plastid all over the screen. "..."_

_"Dean," Pepper scolded in disbelief._

_Dean shook his head and took a step away from the table. He really hadn't been looking at anything. If he had then surely one of them would have noticed him staring at Sam's computer considering that he hardly ever went near the thing. Then again, since neither Pepper nor Sam would look at that kind of site Dean supposed it wasn't hard to see why they would think it was him. _

_Dean smiled slightly because the thought of innocent Sammy looking at porn was hilarious. _

_"Dean!" Sam yelled, taking the smile on his brother's face to mean guilt. "Would you just-- don't touch my stuff anymore, okay?"_

_"Why don't you control you OCD?" Dean demanded._

* * *

"But, did you dig up anything about the building?" Bobby asked, not wanting to hear about the boys' porn viewing habits. "Or on the suicidal co-ed?"

"No, the history's clean." said Sam.

"Then it's not a haunting." said John.

"Maybe not. To tell you the truth, we're not really sure." Dean admitted.

"What do you mean, you're not sure?" asked Bobby.

"Well..." Sam began. "It's weird."

"What's weird?" John asked, frowning.

"The next part, we didn't see it happen ourselves, exactly, but...it's pretty friggin' weird. Even, for us."

* * *

Sam and Dean had just finished telling the story about the Alien encounter and Bobby and John were now staring wide eyed in disbelief at the brothers.

"Aliens?" Bobby asked, after several moments of silence.

"Yeah." Sam sighed.

"Alien, Aliens?" John asked. He couldn't get his head around it and he had seen a lot or weird stuff in his life but Aliens were something else.

"Yep." Dean nodded.

"Look, even if they are real, they're sure as hell not coming to earth and swiping people." said Bobby.

"Well, we still figured we'd at least talk to the guy." Sam explained.

"Yeah, because someone thought it'd be a great idea." Dean mumbled.

Pepper glared at him and folder her arms across her chest. "Well if the two of you hadn't have been driving me insane, then I wouldn't have made you leave to go talk to him." She shot back.

"How did we drive you insane?" Dean asked.

"You always drive me insane."

"Oh come on. That's--"

"--What did Curtis say?" John asked loudly, interrupting Dean.

Dean and Pepper stopped what they were doing and turned back to the others.

"Well, he told us what happened with the, ah, Alien." Dean began. "At first it sounded like the usual sci-fi find of stuff. You know, tests and probing..." He paused with a look of distaste. "Lots and lots of probing apparently."

"Then it got a bit weird." added Sam.

"Cause Alien abduction isn't weird enough for you?" Bobby asked.

Dean huffed out a laugh and shook his head. "Try an Alien abduction then throw in having to slow dance with said Alien."

Again there was a long stunned silence.

"You guys are exaggerating again, huh?" Bobby asked.

Dean, Sam and Pepper's faces all turned to a deadpan expression. Together in unison they replied, "No."

"Are you sure this frat boy's not just insane?" John asked.

"Yeah well," Dean shrugged. "Even so, we figured we'd still take a look right."

* * *

_Sam and Dean walked into their motel room after having just investigating Curtis' claims about being abducted by Aliens. They were still trying to get over the whole 'Alien' issue, which was easier said than done. _

_"This still doesn't make a lick of sense." Dean whispered, not wanting to wake Pepper who was sleeping on their bed. "But hey, at least there's one connection."_

_"Between what?" Sam asked equally as quiet as Dean was being._

_Sam didn't want to wake up Pepper either. Even he could tell that being on the road a lot was taking a bigger toll on her than it was on him and Dean and she needed all the rest she could get._

_"The victims." Dean replied matter-of-factly. He took off his jacket and sat down in one of the old looking armchairs in the room. "The professor and the frat guy." He continued. "They're both dicks."_

_Sam walked over to his bed and picked up his bag. He paused to briefly look at Dean and asked, "That's a connection?"_

_"You got anything better to go on; I'd love to hear it."_

_Sam sighed and went back to his bag. Pepper stirred at that moment and opened her eyes. She blinked a few times before settling her eyes on Dean._

_"Hey," She said, her voice laced with sleep. "How'd it go?"_

_"Like we expected it would." Dean replied. "You okay?"_

_Pepper nodded and rubbed the sleep from her eyes with the back of her hand. She stretched and flashed Sam a smile before getting off the bed. _

_"Too bad I couldn't have been there to hear Alien boy's story." She said with a smirk as she made her way towards Dean._

_"Wouldn't that have defeated the purpose of sending us away to begin with?" _

_"I am allowed to change my mind." said Pepper. _

_Dean opened his mouth to say something but before he made a sound, Pepper's hand shot out and covered his mouth completely. _

_"One word about hormones and mood swings, Dean and I swear I will burn all of your clothes and buy you a new wardrobe entirely of pink and sequenced outfits." Pepper warmed firmly and Dean nodded because if he gave her reason to she'd actually make do on her threat._

_She gave him one last stern look to emphasis her point then, without removing her hand she sat down on his lap. Dean stifled a grunt under her hand. Being nearly six months pregnant of course meant that Pepper was a lot heavier than normal and it was getting harder for him to have her sit on him. Not that he would ever tell her that of course. Besides, he rather liked having her there. Once she was comfortable, Pepper removed her hand from his mouth. She leaned back against his chest and rested her cheek against the side of his throat. _

_Dean moved his hands around her resting them on her stomach, gently moving them back and forth. They hadn't felt the baby move yet though everyone was telling them that it would happen soon. Still, Dean was silently getting impatient. He wanted to feel his child move damn it._

_Sam was still going through his bag, clearly searching for something. After a moment, he sighed in frustration._

_"Where's my laptop?" He suddenly asked._

_"I don't know." Dean replied with his eyes on Pepper's stomach._

_Sam continued looking, throwing pillows and blankets off both beds. _

_Dean lifted his eyes to Pepper's hair and leaned down to gently kiss her he then asked, "So, wanna hear my awesome theory?"_

_"Oh yes, please share your wisdom with me." she replied sarcastically._

_Dean squinted his eyes and ignored her tone. _

_"I think that both of are victims are getting what they deserve. Or at least what some people think they deserve."_

_"Really?" She asked, now interested in what he had to say. "And why do you think that?"_

_"Think about it. A philandering professor gets a dead girl, a pledge master gets hazed--" Dean began _

_"--I left it in here." Sam interrupted them as he pointed to his bag._

_"Your computer?" Pepper asked as she shifted slightly on Dean to sit up._

_"Yes."_

_Dean looked over at him and frowned. "Well, you obviously didn't." With that, he turned back to Pepper and continued his explanation of his theory. "I mean, these punishments they're almost poetic. Actually, it'd be more like a limerick, but still..."_

_"Wait, you know what a limerick is?" Pepper teased._

_Dean went to defend his intelligence when Sam marched over to them. He looked angry and annoyed._

_"Okay, hilarious." He said addressing Dean. "Where'd you hide it?" He demanded._

_"Why would I take your computer?" Dean asked him._

_"Because no one else could have, Dean." Sam exclaimed angrily. "We keep the door locked, we never let any maids in, and Pepper wouldn't move it without telling me."_

_Dean smirked, "Looks like you lost it, Poindexter."_

_Pepper closed her eyes and shook her head. She could tell that the boys were getting ready to have another fight. _

_"Dude, you know something? I've put up with a lot from you." said Sam._

_"What are you talking about?" Dean asked. He smiled and added, "I'm a joy to be around. Right?" He asked Pepper._

_"Oh yes, you are a thrill to be around." Pepper drawled before getting off his lap._

_"See." Sam half yelled._

_Pepper rolled her eyes as she walked into the kitchen and tried to ignore Dean and Sam's argument about Dean's choice of food._

_"Dean, all I ask from you, the one thing is that you don't mess with my stuff."_

_"You done?" Dean asked with a sigh._

_Sam glared down at him. "You know, how would you feel if I screwed with the Impala?" _

_Dean sat up suddenly and glared sharply back at him._

_"It'd be the last thing you ever did."_

* * *

By this time, everyone besides Pepper had moved into the kitchen. Sam and Dean sat at the table, Bobby stood in front of them and John was leaning against the sink behind them. All four men were drinking a beer while Pepper sat on the sofa reading a book.

"Did you take his computer?" Bobby asked Dean.

"It serves him right, but no."

"Well, I didn't lose it." Sam snapped back. "'Cause, I don't lose things."

"Oh that's right. Yeah, 'cause he's Mister perfect." Dean shot back.

"Enough." John warned loudly.

He didn't think that anyone wanted to witness more bickering between his sons.

"Great, one word and you get them to stop." Pepper muttered from her seat. "I should have called you days ago."

"You know, Pep, it's not like you've been all that helpful to the situation." Dean told her.

Pepper put her book down and stood up, turning a sharp glare on Dean.

"Dean, I am not here to play mediator between you and your brother." She snapped. "If you two have issues then you can sort them out yourselves."

"But that doesn't stop you from interfering--"

"--Just tell us what happened next." Bobby interrupted loudly.

Bobby needed to get everyone back on track. Witnessing the brothers' fight with each other was one thing but if Dean and Pepper started to fight then he would feel compelled to step in. He would, of course be on Pepper's side and had no doubt that if he got involved then John would too. And none of them needed a fight that big.

Sam sighed before he told them the rest of the story.

* * *

_Sam sat in the living room of their motel room, reading a book while Pepper was in the bathroom. They were waiting for Dean to get back but Sam had not expected Dean to walk in so angry._

_"You think this is funny?" Dean demanded/_

_"Depends." Sam slowly replied, looking up at his brother. "What?" _

_"The car!" Dean yelled._

_Sam frowned, "What about the car?"_

_"You can't let the air out of the tires, you idiot!" Dean shouted in anger. "You're gonna bend the rims!"_

_"Whoa, wait a minute," Sam began. He closed his book and stood up. "I didn't go near your car."_

_"Oh, yeah?" Dean huffed in disbelief. Then he pulled Sam's money clip from his back pocket. "Huh, then how'd I find this?"_

_Sam was puzzled for a moment. He didn't remember losing his money, but then of course he would not put it past Dean to steal his money._

_"Hey, give me back my money."_

_"Oh, no. Consider it reparations for emotional trauma."_

_Dean continued to hold Sam's money as he walked over to his bed. He took off his jacket and threw it down as Sam moved towards him and reached out for the money._

_"Yeah, very funny." Sam said as he lunged for the clip. "Now give it back."_

_Dean quickly pulled the money out of Sam's reach just as Pepper walked out of the bathroom with a worried expression across her face._

_"What's going on?" She asked, taking a long look at each brother._

_"Your boyfriend's stealing my money." Sam told her._

_"No." Dean replied. "I'm simply collecting for damages that he did to my car."_

_"I did not touch your stupid car, Dean!" Sam yelled._

_"Right, so I guess your money just magically wound up near the tires then did it?"_

_"Dean, I have had it up to here with you." Sam said, raising a hand above his head._

_"Yeah, right back at ya!" _

_"Oh, dear god." Pepper breathed. Shaking her head, she walked into the kitchen and picked up her cell._

_Neither Winchester noticed what she was doing. Instead, Sam tried to take his money again but Dean kept pulling back. They ended up falling on the bed together and started wrestling for the money._

_"Get off me!" Dean yelled._

_"Give it back!" Sam yelled over Dean._

* * *

"Okay, I've heard enough." Bobby said loudly.

"Anyway, that's when Pepper called you and about half an hour later you showed up." said Dean.

"I'm surprised at you two. I really am." Bobby began and Sam and Dean both looked down avoiding eye contact with him. "Sam, first off--Dean did not steal your computer."

Sam's head shot up and he gaped at Bobby. Dean was starting to look very pleased with himself.

"But, I-there---" Sam started to protest.

"Shh!" Bobby snapped then he turned his attention to Dean. "And Dean, Sam did not touch your car."

"Yeah!" yelled Sam.

"And if you two bothered to pull your heads out of your asses, it all would've been pretty clear."

"What?" Dean asked.

"What you're dealing with." said Bobby.

Sam and Dean thought for a moment, each fidgeting in their seats.

"Uh..." Sam sighed.

"I've got nothing." said Dean.

"Me either."

Bobby sighed and shook his head. "You've got a Trickster on your hands."

Dean snapped his fingers and proudly said, "That's what I thought."

Sam and Pepper, who was now sitting between the boys, both lifted their gazes to him and frowned.

"No you didn't!" They both exclaimed angrily.

"But, I've gotta tell you--you guys were the biggest clue." Bobby continued.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked, turning to look up at him.

"These things create chaos and mischief as easy as breathing. And it's got you so turned around and at each other's throats, you can't even think straight."

Sam nodded his head on a sigh. He finally realized that Bobby was right about what had been happening in the last few days.

"The laptop."

"The tires."

"It's probably been on you since you got here." said John. "They can pick up on Hunters pretty quickly."

"Have you ever faced one Dad?" Sam asked, looking over his shoulder at his father. "I haven't read anything in your journal."

John shook his head. "I haven't come across one myself but I've heard some rather weird stories about them."

"So, what is it? A spirit? Demon? What?" Dean asked.

"Well, more like demigods, really." answered Bobby. "There's a Loki in Scandinavia, there's Anansi in West Africa--dozens of them. They're immortal, and they can create things out of thin air. Thing's as real as you and me. Make them vanish just as quick."

"You mean, like an angry spirit, or an alien, or an alligator?" asked Dean.

Bobby nodded, "The victims' fit the M.O., too. Tricksters target the high and the mighty. Knock 'em down a peg, usually with a sense of humor. Deadly pranks, things like that."

"Is death always the intention of these pranks?" Pepper asked.

"Not all the time." John replied, shaking his head slightly. "It depends on the person. For instance your frat boy seems to think that being humiliated the way he was, was worse than dying."

"Okay, well what do these things look like?" asked Dean.

"Lots of things." replied Bobby. "But human, mostly."

Dean turned slightly in his chair to face Sam, who did the same thing.

"And what human do we know who's been at ground zero this whole time?" Dean asked.

It took Sam a moment before realization dawned on him, "The janitor."

"Let's go get the son of a bitch." Dean said as he stood up.

"Wait. Hold on, Dean. You can't just go after this guy without having some sort of plan." said Pepper.

"She's right, son." said John. "We need to be smart about this."

Dean nodded. Then he slowly smirked, "Well at least the odds are in our favor. This thing doesn't stand a chance against the four of us."

Sam paused before he sat up straighter. "Maybe we should make him think that he does."

"Huh?" Dean asked confused.

"Think about it, Dean. I mean, we already know that he's smart. He's been playing us for days, so if he thinks that he's going against all four of us from the start he's going to find some way around it." Sam explained.

"Yeah?" Dean slowly asked.

"Well, if we make him think that he's just getting you and me, or just you then the rest of us can catch him of guard." Sam announced proudly. "At the very least we surprise him enough so that he can't think of anything to do to us for a minute or so, giving us the advantage."

John smiled slightly, very proud of Sam's idea.

"Okay, but we'll have to work out exactly what we're going to do before we head out." said John.

Dean, Sam and Bobby all agreed.

* * *

It was very late at night, which was lucky because it meant that no one was around to see the four Hunters rush down the front steps of Crawford Hall. Each one looking as if he'd started a fire or something. All of them made their way towards the Impala and Bobby's truck parked right in front of the building.

"Hey, Dad, Bobby, thanks a lot, we really couldn't-" Sam began.

"Hey, save it." Bobby replied, stopping Sam mid sentence. "Let's just get the hell out of Dodge before somebody finds that body."

"Yeah." Sam nodded in agreement.

Sam and Dean reached the Impala with Dean going over to the driver's side while Bobby and John moved behind them to Bobby's truck. Sam paused after he opened his door and looked over at his brother.

"Look, Dean, um... I just wanna say that I'm...um..." He began but couldn't quit put into words what he wanted to say.

Luckily Dean understood, well either that or he just didn't want to get into a whole deep apology thing.

Dean smiled slightly, "Hey, me too."

Bobby, who was already in his truck, leaned out of the window and looked at the boys in annoyance. "You guys are breaking my heart. Could we please just leave?"

"Someone should call Pepper." John suggested with a small smile of amusement as he got into the truck.

"Yeah." Bobby agreed. "I'll call her, but let's just hurry up."

"Um…hey, Bobby?" Dean asked carefully.

"What?" Bobby sighed.

"When you call Pep, could you maybe not mention the conjured up half naked ladies?"

Bobby rolled his eyes, shook his head but said nothing.

* * *

When they got back to the motel room, Pepper was already waiting for them and she had packed all of their things together. As the four of them walked into the room, Pepper immediately made her way over to Dean and hugged him tightly. The others moved around them and started gathering their bags.

"How'd it go?" Pepper asked, pulling away from Dean to inspect the cut on his lip. "I'm guessing he conjured up something nasty."

"Ha!" Sam laughed loudly.

Pepper turned to face him with a frown, "What?"

"Nothing." Dean shot back, shooting a warning look to his brother. "He'd just confused."

"Right..." Pepper said slowly while turning back to Dean. "So, did you get him?"

"Yes." said Bobby. "Now I think we should get this stuff downstairs so we can leave."

"Yeah, okay." Pepper nodded.

"There's a small town close by." said John. "We can head there and stay the night."

John was looking forward to spending some time with his sons. After hearing about what happened with Gordon, John hadn't been in contact with the boys. Opting instead to follow up on leads on the psychic children. And yes, John knew that when/if Sam ever found out that John was doing this behind his back that it would start another World War between them. John had lost count on what number they were on but it had to be in the double digits by now.

After witnessing both sons over the last few hours, John was now even more convinced that Sam's place was at his brother's side, hunting random (yet by no means less significant) demons that allowed them to save people's lives. And being around Dean and Pepper would do Sam good than if he went looking for answers on the Yellow Eyed Demon. Now, John made a promise not to leave them out of the loop again and he wouldn't break that promise, he was just going to tell them everything at the right time. John just wished that he could spend more time with his family, especially now that Pepper was pregnant but it was hard to go from hard-ass-military-guy to family man in just a few months.

Sam bent down and picked up his computer and bag. John and Bobby were already moving towards the door, each carrying a bag. Sam let out a short breath when he noticed that Dean had not moved to get his own bag, and knew that he probably expected someone else to do it for him.

"You know, Dean, your bags are not just gonna grow legs and walk down to the car themselves." Sam pointed out irritably. Trust Dean to do something to annoy him even after they'd apologize to one another for being such asses.

"It's not my fault I have to assure Pepper that I'm okay." Dean replied with a smirk. "She's worried about me."

"I'm worried about everyone, Dean." She said.

"Yeah but you're worried about me the most."

"Maybe or maybe I'm more worried about my grandfather." Pepper said, folding her arms across her chest. "Did you think of that?"

"Okay," Dean nodded slowly. "But you are more worried about me than Sam, right?"

Pepper smirked and gave a half shrug in response.

"Dean--" Sam began.

"Oh," Pepper gasped, immediately lowering her arms and looking surprised.

Instant panic spread through all four men in the room. Dean reached out and grabbed her left arm, gripping a little tighter than he intended. Everyone else had dropped the bags they were holding and rushed to Pepper's side.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Dean asked in one long breath.

Pepper lifted her eyes to his and smiled. "The baby moved." She announced happily.

"Moved?' Dean asked, staring at her stomach.

"Ah huh." She nodded. "Here feel." She grabbed one of Dean's hands and placed it on her stomach so that he could feel their baby kick. "See."

Dean's expression quickly changed from a frown into a lopsided grin. This simple experience was so full of amazement to him.

"Wow," He breathed.

John, Bobby and Sam all looked on in silent awe. For Bobby and John, the moment was a little bittersweet as it made them remember time with their wives when they had been pregnant. Plus, Bobby was thinking about his daughter's pregnancy with Pepper. For Sam, it was all new and since he was not the father he wasn't feeling the same type of excitement that Dean was feeling but that didn't mean that he wasn't amazed by the whole thing.

John was the first to break out of his trances. He walked back over to the bag he had dropped and picked it back up, Bobby quickly followed. Sam was still looking at the couple.

"What's it like?" Sam asked his brother.

"Totally awesome." Dean beamed. He finally looked up from his hand. First, at Pepper then Sam. "Stopped now though." He added a little sadly.

"I think they're sleeping." said Pepper.

"I'll tell you one thing, Sammy, this kid is strong." said Dean, getting his smile back fully. "Takes after me."

Pepper folded her arms over her chest in a defensive manner. "Dean, are you saying that I'm weak?" She demanded.

"What you? No, never." Dean flashed her a grin before leaning down to kiss her.

Sam smiled slightly and picked up his and Dean's bags. Then he followed John and Bobby out the door. They still needed to get out of town quickly but under the circumstances they could let the young couple have a few minutes alone together.

**TBC**

**Next Chapter - Truth With Paint.**

**Authors Notes -** _I know it may be weird that this chapter was called 'Hello Mr. Trickster' and yet the Trickster is only mentioned and doesn't have lines or anything. Oh well.... :-)_

* * *


	7. Truth With Paint

**CHAPTER SEVEN - TRUTH WITH PAINT**

Bobby let out a low breath as he moved the very last thing out of his bedroom, leaving the room completely bare. He took a moment to admire his handy work. With all the distractions, like helping Dean and the others with the Trickster, it had taken longer than he would have liked to clear out the room even with John's help.

He took one last long look at the room before retreating downstairs to the kitchen, where he knew John was.

About a month ago, Pepper had bought a crib for the baby and had it delivered at the house. Bobby had left it in the box and moved it into the basement with all the other baby things they'd all collected over the last few months. The plan had always been to have Pepper, Dean and the baby move in but it wasn't until the crib had arrived that Bobby really noticed how unprepared the house was for a baby. That was when he decided to do something about it and clean the entire house up. He knew that the house could look nice, it had before he had just let the housekeeping and gardening slide over the years.

Bobby's plan was to turn his own bedroom into the nursery because it was directly opposite Pepper's and it was the second biggest room in the house. He was going to make the guest room his own bedroom and then convert a few of his upstairs study and library into other guest rooms because he knew that he'd need a place for John and Sam to stay as well.

All John and Bobby had to do now, was finish cleaning the house, paint a few rooms and then set up the baby furniture. One thing that Bobby was insistent on was that the entire process stay a surprise for Pepper. John had agreed and when the two of them joined the boys on the Trickster hunt, he hadn't mentioned the house at all.

Bobby wasn't that all surprised by how eagerly John had wanted to help. Bobby knew how hard John had worked to raise his boys and Hunt at the same time, and therefore knows that there are many mistakes made on John's part that he would want to make up for with this baby.

* * *

Bobby walked into the kitchen and found John standing over the table with a mug in one hand and a book in the other. Beside him on the table was a large box filled with other books. While they had been clearing everything up they had also been going through everything in case there was something that they might need in the near future. After a moment, John decided that this book wasn't something they would need so he tossed it into the box.

"Coffee jus' been made?" Bobby asked.

John nodded and picked up another book from a small pile beside him. "Finished upstairs yet?"

"Yeah, just have to lay the plastic down before we start painting." Bobby replied as he poured himself some coffee.

"Well I'm pretty much done here if you want to start now." John suggested. "Be best to start the painting as soon as we can to get it out of the way."

Oh yes, there was going to be painting involved, after all they couldn't leave the nursery the dull color it was now and since neither of them had picked up a paint brush in god knows how long this whole painting thing was going to be very, very interesting.

* * *

John covered the edge of the walls with plastic while Bobby collected the paint cans, rollers, brushes and everything else they might need. In truth, they were both a little nervous about how this would turn out. Even though there was no reason to after all, it wasn't like Dean or Pepper were going to care about a dodgy paint job, and the baby sure as hell wouldn't give a damn.

Bobby placed two paint cans down then knelt down and opened each can with a screwdriver. There was a light yellow color in one tin and a light purple in the other. John finished covering the glass in the window and then made his way over to Bobby and the paints. He frowned as he looked over Bobby's shoulder to the two different colors.

"Why two colors?" He asked. "I thought we decided on yellow?"

"Yeah, for the main color."

"Main color?" John asked confused.

Bobby nodded, "The purples for the boarder."

John raised one brow and stared at Bobby. "We're doing a boarder? What the hell for?"

"Because, it would look good." Bobby said sternly, letting John know not to say another word about it.

The truth was that while Bobby had been out picking up the paints, he had been cornered by one of the store clerks who spent fifteen minutes talking about different and simple painting techniques and while this was annoying some of what they said stuck in Bobby's mind. Hence, the idea for the border. This baby was turning Bobby into a big softy.

After setting the paint up, Bobby stood back and grabbed one of the brushes.

"Well, come on Winchester, grab a damn brush."

John nodded and bent to retrieve the second brush. Together they started on the first wall, slowly changing the color from cream to yellow.

* * *

Hours later, Bobby and John were just finishing the final coat on the last wall when John's cell started to ring. John checked the caller ID and sighed when he was Sam's name. He knew that Sam wouldn't call unless they needed help with a hunt.

"Sam," John answered. "What's up?"

"Not a lot." Sam replied casually causing John to frown. "You busy?"

"Ah, no. I'm just at Bobby's" John replied skeptically.

"Bobby's? Why are you at Bobby's?"

"That's not important." John said quickly. "What's going on Sam?"

"Well, I was just--Oh hang on, can you put me on speaker? I need to talk to Bobby as well."

Bobby watched as John became puzzled over whatever Sam was telling him. John lowered his phone after a moment and turned the speaker on then held the phone out in front of him as he moved closer to Bobby.

"Sam. What's going on?" Bobby demanded.

With the way that John was looking, and the fact that Sam hardly ever called either of them unless it was about a hunt all made Bobby a bit uneasy.

"Right, well you guys know how Pepper had an ultra sound the other day?" Sam began, keeping his voice light so that the older men wouldn't panic.

"Yes." said Bobby, with a small nod.

"And you know how she and Dean have decided that they didn't want to know the sex of the baby?"

"Right..." said John. "Have they changed their minds or something?"

"Well no. But I thought it would kind of fun if we had a bet going."

"A bet? A bet about what?" John asked, confused.

"If the baby is a boy or a girl." Sam explained. "Though right now, everyone's saying it'll be a boy."

"Who's betting?" Bobby asked.

"Um, at the moment, Ellen, Jo, Ash, one of Pepper's friends from work and myself. And now you two."

"Sam, do Dean and Pepper know that you're doing this?" John asked.

"Of course they do." Sam quickly replied.

"And they're okay with it?"

"Kind of...Pepper doesn't care either way, but Dean's being a bit weird about it. He thinks it's wrong or something. So, you in or not?"

Bobby slowly smirked. He would bet as long as Pepper didn't care.

"Alright, but I think it's gonna be a boy anyway so there's not really a point in betting is there." said Bobby. "Not if everyone else says it'll be a boy."

"Well-" Sam began.

John casually interrupted him. "-It's a girl."

John knew this because Dean and Pepper had the most beautiful baby girl in his dream and John and no doubt, that they'd have one in real life. Not that they wouldn't have a cute baby boy either but someone John just felt that he was getting a granddaughter.

There was a pause while Sam got over how quick and serious John's answer was.

"You sure Dad, cause you'd be going against six other people?" Sam asked.

"Trust me, Sammy, your brother's having a girl." John replied with a smile, even though Sam couldn't see it. "How much is everyone putting in?"

"Hundred bucks each."

"Sounds good." Bobby smirked and looked over at John. "Let's hope it's a boy. I'm taking your money Winchester."

John let out a small laugh and shook his head, secretly over confidant that he'd win this. "We'll see."

"Great." said Sam over the phone. "So another boy and one gi--"

"-STOP BETTING ON MY CHILD!" Dean yelled angrily in the background.

"Relax, Dean." Sam said calmly, though Bobby and John could tell that he'd moved away from the phone as his voice sounded distant. "It's not like we're betting against the baby."

There was another pause and the older hunters could hear the faint sounds of things either being thrown around or knocked over as well as a few grunts from Sam. Before they had a chance to ask what was going on, Sam's voice came back over the line in one long rush.

"Look, I'm going to have to call you back."

Then the line went dead. Bobby and John both burst out laughing. John shook his head and placed his cell back into his pocket. Once their laughter subsided minutes later they got back to painting.

"You know, Dean's not so bad." Bobby commented after several moments of silence.

John turned to him with a frown, wondering if Bobby was going to start attacking Dean in some way.

"Not so bad?" He asked.

"Sorry, I was just thinking out loud." Bobby admitted. "You know I like your boys, John, think of them as my own family. I just couldn't really get my head around Dean being with Pepper and having this baby."

"Well, neither could I." John lied slightly.

"No, it's different for you." Bobby sighed. "Just be thankful you never had a daughter. You get a lot more stress than with boys. The last thing I wanted for Pepper was for her to become involved with a hunter."

"I guess I'd feel the same way." John nodded. "Is that why you attacked Dean when you found out?"

"Partly, but I'm sure I would have tracked him down and punched him even if he weren't a hunter." Bobby replied. "But in hindsight I should have handled the whole thing better."

John nodded.

"How do you think Dean will go?" Bobby asked slowly, finally voicing his worry for Pepper's well being. Even though he trusted Dean, he still had a few doubts regarding his ability to protect his family. "At being a father I mean."

John paused and thought for a second. He knew what he wanted to say, but wasn't sure how to say it. He knew, deep down that Dean was going to be a great father because he had seen it first hand but he couldn't really tell Bobby that.

"He'll do the best that he can, Bobby." John answered softly. "I'm not saying that he won't mess up along the way but, he will put this baby and Pepper first. That, I can promise you." He sighed and looked down. "You'd only have to look at him now to see how protective he is of the kid and it's not even born yet."

"He was always protective of Sam when they were younger." Bobby nodded in agreement.

Slowly, John looked back at Bobby and they both shared a look of understanding before going back to their painting.

* * *

The following day, the nursery was ready for them to start putting the furniture together so they had gone into the basement, which with everything Bobby had collected for the baby, and everything that Pepper had sent the place was looking like a baby shop in itself.

John moved over to the box containing the new crib and hoped the thing came with easy to understand instructions. He hadn't put one of these together since Sam was a baby and even that one was pretty hard to put together.

"I'll start on this upstairs." John said. "I might need some help with..." He trailed off as something caught his eye. He lowered the box to the ground and headed towards the object.

It was a soccer trophy. Sam's soccer trophy, and as John got better look around he noticed that there were other things from his storage locker in Buffalo including Dean's hand-made gun and some pictures that Sam had drawn plus so much more.

"Bobby, what the hell is this stuff doing here?" John asked though, his surprise made it sound more like a demand.

Bobby was busy moving the bassinet off the change table when John spoke. He turned around with a small frown and saw what John was talking about.

"They boys dropped that stuff off months ago." He replied with a slight shrug. "What's the problem?"

"All this stuff came from my storage locker."

"Yes and?"

"Well, I didn't think Dean and Sam would find any of this stuff important enough to keep."

"I don't think they did." Bobby replied. "When Dean gave me this stuff he said something like 'Pepper wants these things' I guess she saw them and took them from your locker." Bobby paused and gave John a stern look. "Is that a problem?"

Yes. "No." Not really.

Bobby went back to what he was doing and John took a few minutes to look over the few childhood memories that his boys had, and hadn't known about until Buffalo. He was a little annoyed that Pepper took it upon herself to take his stuff without asking but there was something inside of him that told him it shouldn't matter. After all, it wasn't like she had gone and taken anything dangerous out of the locker and really, John couldn't bring himself to get mad at the woman who was carrying his grandchild, especially since she was over six months pregnant. Plus Pepper did seem to bring a certain joy into Dean's life that John had never seen before.

Eventually John went back to the crib and carried it up the basement stairs.

* * *

Hours later after Bobby had given up on the crib, because the instructions were too damn hard to follow even for a man like Bobby who could read Latin and a whole range of other languages. John however, refused to be beaten by this crib so he stayed in the nursery while Bobby went downstairs to sort out the change table and bassinet as well as to get himself a beer.

Bobby was relaxing against his sofa drinking down a beer when a soft knock at his door caused him to stand up. He briefly hoped that it wasn't Pepper and the boys but then realized that none of them would knock.

He moved to the door and opened it for Ellen.

"Hey, Bobby." Ellen smiled over a small box she held in her arms, probably filled with more hand-me-down things from when Jo was a baby.

"Ellen. Good to see you." Bobby stepped back and allowed her to enter his house.

Ellen carried the box into the living room and placed it down beside the sofa. She took a moment to look around the semi clean house.

"So, how's the clean up going?" She asked.

Bobby shrugged, "we're getting there. Luckily it'll be worth it."

"Yeah." Ellen nodded. "Anything I can help with?"

"Plenty of stuff, but nothing we can't handle. Except, that stupid crib upstairs." Bobby muttered angrily.

Ellen laughed slightly, "Let me guess you have to build it yourself?"

Bobby nodded and took the last swig from his beer.

"I can take a look at it if you'd like." Ellen offered after a moment. "A fresh pair of eyes might be just what you need. Is it in the nursery?"

"Yeah, but, John's upstairs trying to figure it out."

"Oh...."

Bobby of course knew that something had happened between John, Ellen and Ellen's husband Bill, and he knew it had something to do with Bill's death but he wasn't sure on the details. No one knew what really happened except for Ellen and John and neither of them were ever going to share. It had happened so many years ago and they hadn't spoken directly to each other since. That was fine with Bobby for a while since he had given up on pushing them together but now that Pepper was pregnant, Bobby couldn't just stand back and let them continue the way they were.

Bobby let out a long sigh, "You should go up and talk to him." He suggested.

"Ah, I should really get back-"

"-C'mon Ellen, you two are gonna have to sort this out. You can't keep avoiding each other forever."

"We've managed so far." Ellen replied.

"Yeah, but now Pepper's having a baby and the two of you have got to at least try to get along. Especially if you want to be a part of this child's life 'cause John is the grandfather and if the two of you are always fighting--"

"--We're not fighting. It's just..."

"Complicated?" Bobby asked, but shook his head. "Yes I know that. Look, just go upstairs and try to sort this out. For Pepper and the baby."

Ellen sighed and closed her eyes for a few long moments. She knew that Bobby was right, this had gone on for far too long and life was too short to hold on to these types of things. She opened her eyes and nodded before heading towards the stairs. This talk with John was well overdue.

While Ellen had stopped blaming John for Bill's death years ago, she couldn't bring herself to have a conversation with John even to tell him that she forgave him. Then again, it wasn't as if John had ever given her the opportunity to do so. John obviously had made his mind up that it was his fault and no one could carry guilt the way that man could.

Bobby watched her go and hoped that she and John would finally sort this out.

* * *

John was crouched on the floor in front of the half-built crib, the instructions in one hand and a piece of crib in the other. He looked from the instructions to the crib and back again with a frown across his face. He was sure that they had started making cribs a lot harder to put together over the last twenty-three years. He heard footsteps behind him and assumed it was Bobby.

"Finally decided to help?" He asked. When there was no response, he turned slightly to see what was wrong and was very surprised to see Ellen standing before him. "Ellen? What...what are you doing here?"

"Dropping some things off for the baby." She replied. She let out a deep sigh and added, "John, we need to talk."

"About what?" John played dumb.

He stood up and stretched slightly. He was glad to be off the floor but he would have preferred that position to having the conversation he knew was coming.

Ellen moved closer into the room and stood squarely in front of John.

"Tell me what happened the night Bill died."

"You already know what happened." John sighed. "I was reckless and I--"

"--Don't give me that John." Ellen snapped. "I know that the story you've been telling people isn't the truth, at least not the whole truth. So tell me what happened."

John shifted his gaze to a random spot on the wall behind her, trying to think of something, anything that would get him out of this conversation that she was so intent to have. Ellen deserved to hear the truth, John knew that but the lie was just so much easier.

"Bill and I were on a Hunt. Some...Hell spawn. We thought we had it cornered so I went for it but, turns out it was quicker than us and Bill... well the thing latched on to him, almost as if it didn't care where I was or what I was doing." He finally chanced a look at Ellen and saw that she was staring intently at him. "I tried to stop it but it wouldn't more. Or stop."

"It killed him." Ellen said quietly with a small nod.

John shook his head, "No." He sighed. "It just tore him up. Wounded him pretty badly. Most of his insides where..." He trailed off. There was no need to put Ellen through the more gruesome details of that night. "...Anyway, we were so far from the cars and half a day away from any kind of help. Bill knew it too but he didn't want to admit it."

"Didn't want to admit what?" Ellen asked on baited breath.

John quickly averted his gaze once more.

"That he was dying. All he wanted to do was see you and Jo again. He kept begging me to save him." John let out a long sigh. "But it was too late. He was already dead; he just hadn't taken his last breath yet." He paused and scrubbed a hand over his face and through his hair. "Bill just kept begging me to do something, so I did the only think I could to end his suffering. I pulled out my shotgun and...I shot him. In the head. I was the one that killed him, Ellen not the Hell spawn."

When John looked back at Ellen, she had her eyes turned up to the ceiling, trying to blink away the tears that were threatening to spill down her cheeks. John didn't know what she had hoped to achieve by starting this conversation but he doubted that she found it.

"You should have told me that." She whispered.

"Told you what?" John asked confused. "That I killed your husband? You already knew that. You just didn't know all the details."

"You're not responsible for his death, John." Ellen shook her head and finally met his eyes.

"Of course I am!" John shouted with a hint of anger. Anger towards himself. Years later and he still could not forgive himself. "I should have been better prepared, heck I should have at least tried to get Bill to some help, but no I just took the easy way out. I took a husband away from his wife. I took a father away from his daughter."

"No. You did what you could." Ellen said firmly, her voice full of raw emotion. "You did what anyone would have done. If Bill's injuries were as bad as you say then the best thing would have been to... You did the right thing."

"Yeah." John huffed in disbelief.

"John, you need to know that I stopped blaming you years ago. I don't hate you for what happened. I miss Bill, I won't deny that and it still hurts sometimes but... Life's too short to worry about whether or not you could have done more."

It was several long minutes before either of them said anything.

"Why now?" John asked. "You could have found me years ago if you needed to hear the truth but you didn't so why now. What changed?"

"To be fair, John, you could have come to me and told me but you didn't. And after a while..." Ellen shrugged. "It became easier to pretend like I didn't need to know or that I didn't need to hear the truth from you."

"Then what changed?" He asked again.

"This baby. Dean is you son and Pepper, well she's like a daughter to me. I wanna be a part of this baby's life and as Bobby pointed out it's going to be very difficult to do that if we can't be in the same room together."

John nodded, wondering why he hadn't thought of that. This baby was changing so much about all of their lives and it wasn't even born yet.

"So, what happens now?" He asked after a pause.

"Well, we just give it some time. We don't leave the past behind us but we don't let it rule what we do either. This baby can be a new start for us."

John's lips curled up ever so slightly in the faintest of smiles that Ellen matched. Their friendship was far from fixed and back to normal but it was a small start.

"Okay."

**TBC**

**Next Chapter - Gone**

**Authors Notes - **_Okay so that was my version of what happened to Ellen's husband. I hope that was a good take on it._


	8. Gone

**Authors Notes - **_This chapter and the next one is my version of the season 2 episode 'All Hell Breaks Loose part 1'. Once again, I found it hard to write John into the story. Enjoy._

**CHAPTER EIGHT - GONE**

Dean pulled the Impala up to the front of a small cafe that was thankfully still open at such a late hour. With the local 80s' rock station playing on the radio and a light drizzle of rain falling outside. They were on their way to Bobby's place because Pepper was growing closer to her due date and they all decided that the best thing for her would be to spend the next two weeks lying around on Bobby's sofa. It would also be a welcome break for both Dean and Sam, who had been on the road a lot over the past few months. The plan was to drive straight to Bobby's except that they were all a bit hungry so Dean decided to stop just to pick up something to eat.

Once the car was parked, Dean reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of cash then he handed it over to Sam.

"Hey, don't forget the extra onions this time, huh?" He said to Sam.

"Dude, I'm the one whose gonna have to ride up front with your extra onions." Sam replied then rolled his eyes when Dean only grinned in response. He didn't say another word as he got out of the car.

"I'll be back in a minute," said Pepper, from the backseat behind Dean. "Gotta pee."

Dean pulled a face, not interested in hearing about her bathroom habits. Pepper leaned over awkwardly and kissed him quickly before she slowly slid out of the car. Sam opened the car door for her and offered her a hand as she got out.

"Hey, see if they've got any pie." Dean shouted as he leaned over a little.

Sam gave him a glare while shutting the Impala doors. Pepper just laughed in response as she led the way up the path to the cafe. Sam quickly followed her.

"Bring me some pie!" Dean shouted after them. "I love me some pie." He mumbled to himself. He grinned and turned the radio up a few more levels while watching Sam and Pepper move through the cafe.

Dean leaned back against the seat and continued to grin. He couldn't stop grinning lately. He was just happy and there was no denying it, not that he'd ever want too. They hadn't faced any dangerous hunts in months; Dean knew exactly where everyone he cared about was, and most importantly, he was going to be a father in just over two weeks. For once life was pretty damn sweet.

Suddenly the radio crackled and static filled the air. The grin faded from Dean's face and he sat up before fiddling with the dials on the radio. That did not seem to work as the entire thing had turned itself off. Something was wrong; Dean could feel it in the pit of his stomach. He looked up at the cafe. There was no sign of Sam, Pepper or anyone else for that matter. As fast as he could, Dean got out of the Impala and raced towards the cafe.

Once inside, Dean spotted a customer who was face down in a puddle of their own blood at one of the cafe booths. Dean suddenly felt a deep and overwhelming sense of dread fill his bones. It looked like whatever did this did not leave any survivors. He quickly pulled out his gun from behind his back and firmly held it out in front of him.

"Sam!" He yelled, looking around.

Behind the counter there were some employees, all on the ground with their throats cut and their blood on the ground. The fear Dean felt increased ten fold.

"Pep!" He shouted as he raced into the female bathroom.

He braced himself for the worse but all he found was the small empty room with the water still running from the tap.

"Oh, no. No, no, no, no." He muttered and raced back to the main part of the cafe.

He walked to the back door and opened it carefully, looking out into the dead of night. Still no sign of Sam or Pepper and there was no sign of a struggle either.

"Sam!" Dean yelled and prayed that he'd get a response.

When there was nothing he closed the door and tried to collect the thoughts running through his mind. He had to keep himself from panicking. If he panicked, he wouldn't be able to find them. He noticed something underneath his hand on the door. He frowned for a second and inspected his hand. When he realized what was on his fingers, his eyes grew wide with realization and fear as he muttered, "Sulfur."

Dean ran back outside towards the car, frantically looking around for any sign of Pepper or Sam. There was nothing, absolutely no sign at all. This was bad. This was very, very bad.

* * *

Sam opened his eyes and blinked several times. It took him a moment to remember what happened. With a deep frown, he slowly stood up and looked around. A panic rose inside of him when he noticed that not only was he no longer in the cafe but that he couldn't see Dean or Pepper. He grabbed his cell from out of his pocket then cursed when he got no reception.

He tried to find some sort of clue to tell him exactly where he was and what was going on but all he could see was that he was in some kind of abandon town. It looked like something from one of those old Western movies that Dean sometimes watched.

Sam began checking the nearest buildings for any sign or Dean or Pepper. Then out of nowhere, he heard movement coming from the distance around the side of the building. Hoping that it was Dean, but also knowing that there was an even larger chance that it was going to be something else, Sam grabbed a nearby plank of wood. Ever so slowly, he made his way closer to the sound. He made his way around to where the sound was coming from. He jumped when Andy Gallagher appeared in front of him out of nowhere.

"Andy?" Sam asked, dropping the plank of wood.

"Sam!" Andy shouted, just as confused as Sam. "What are you doing here?"

"I don't know." Sam replied honestly, wiping his hands on his pants.

"What am I doing here?"

"I don't know."

"Where are we?"

"Andy, look, calm down."

"I can't calm down!" Andy said loudly in a panic. "I just woke up it freaking Frontier land!"

Sam paused for a moment and tried to get a grip on what was going on. Then he asked, "What's the last thing you remember?"

"Honestly?" Andy began, "My fourth bong load. It was weird. All of a sudden, there was this really intense smell. Like, uh..."

"Like sulfur?" Sam asked.

Andy nodded shortly, "How did you know that?" He asked.

Sam ignored him as his mind filled with theories of what had happened to him. Once moment he was grabbing some pie for...

"Dean." Sam muttered without realizing it.

"Your brother." said Andy. "Is he here?"

"I don't know where he is." Sam replied sadly. "I don't know if he's--"

Sam was interrupted by a large ear-piercing scream coming from a nearby building. Immediately, Sam rushed off towards the sound with Andy quickly following behind him for the protection more than anything else. The screaming continued as they got closer.

"Hello?"

"Help me! Help me, please!" A woman screamed from behind a padlocked door.

"Okay, I'm here." Sam tried to assure her as he looked at the lock. "We're gonna get you out, all right? Just hold on a second."

"Please!" The woman cried.

Looking around, Sam quickly found a large rock and picked it up. He smashed it against the lock and broke it. "All right, one second." He said just before he thrust the door opened.

"Ava?" Sam asked shocked. Out of all the people he would have expected to see behind that door, Ava Wilson would not have been one of them.

"Oh my god! Sam!" Ava slightly screamed right before throwing herself into his arms.

"So, I guess you guys know each other." Andy commented from the side.

"Yeah." nodded Sam.

Ava pulled back, she looked completely lost and had tears in her eyes.

"How did you-- I mean, how did I get---"

"Ava, have you been here this whole time?" Sam asked carefully yet completely dumfounded.

"What whole time?" Ava asked. "I just woke up in there, like, half an hour ago."

"Well, you've been gone for months." Sam regretfully told her. "My brother and I have been looking for you everywhere."

"Okay," Ava began slowly. "That's impossible, because I saw you two days ago."

"You didn't. I'm sorry."

"But...that makes no sense. That's not--" Ava tried to process this information. She gasped in horror as something occurred to her. "--Oh my god! My fiancé, Brady! If I've been missing for that long, he must be freaking out!" She cried.

Sam looked away, unable to tell her that her fiancé was actually dead. "Well..."

Ava looked around and stopped short when she spotted Andy, who was sheepishly looking at them.

"Hey. Andy." Andy introduced himself. He waved slightly and added, "Also freaking out."

Ava stared at him for a moment before she turned back to Sam.

"Okay, what's happening?" She asked.

"I don't really know yet. But I know one thing," Sam replied. "I know what the three of us have in common."

Sam tried to look calm and reassuring but inside his stomach was doing flip-flops. He knew that if the three of them were here together then it had something to do with the Yellow Eyed Demon.

"Hello? Is anybody there?" A voice called out.

Sam frowned and looked up, "Maybe more than three."

Running towards the new voice, Sam led the way to another building.

"Hello?" Sam called out, still running.

He stopped at the front a building when he saw a tall man in army clothing and a young and scared looking woman.

"Hey!" Sam exclaimed. "Hey. You guys all right?"

"I think so." The man replied.

"I'm Sam."

"I'm Jake," said the man

"Lilly." The woman added.

"Are there anymore of you?" Sam asked

"No." Jake replied.

"How did we ever get here?" Lilly asked. "A minute ago, I was in San Diego."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I went to sleep last night in Afghanistan," said Jake.

"Let me take a wild guess," Sam said, interrupting them. "You two are both twenty-three?" He asked. As they nodded in reply he gestured to himself, Ava and Andy. "We all are. And we all have abilities."

"What?" asked Jake.

"It stated a little over a year ago? You found you could do things? Things you didn't think were possible?" Sam tried to explain. When Jake and Lilly nodded slowly, he knew that he was right. "I have visions. I see things before they happen."

"Yeah. Me, too." Ava added.

"Yeah, and I can put thoughts into people's heads. Like make them do stuff." Andy said, smiling slightly.

Sam envied that Andy and the way he felt so content with his abilities, even if they were there for some evil purpose.

"But don't worry." Andy continued. "I don't think it works on you guys."

"So, you go, 'Simon says give me your wallet' and they do?" Lilly asked Andy. She clearly was not amused by his story. She turned to Sam, " You have visions? That's great! I'd kill for something like that."

"Lilly, listen, its okay." Sam tried to calm her down. The last thing they needed was for one of them to go off in a panic.

"No. It's not. I touch people, their hearts stop." Lille replied, slightly angry. "I can barely leave my house. My life's not exactly improved. So, screw you. I just wanna go home."

"And what, we don't?" Jake asked.

"You know what," Lilly snapped. "Don't talk to me like that--"

"--Hey, guys, please." Sam said loudly. "Look, whether we like it or not, we're all here, and so we all have to deal with this."

"Who brought us here?" Andy asked.

Sam paused and looked around before answering, "It's less of a 'who'. It's more of a 'what'."

Ava looked confused. "What does that mean?"

"It's a demon."

"I'm sorry, a what?" She asked.

"I know--" Sam began but was cut off when they heard a sound coming from inside the building in front of them.

"What the hell was that?" Lilly demanded.

"Maybe there are more of us here." Andy suggested helpfully.

Carefully, Sam led the way into the building, weary that it could be something other than a fellow psychic. Heading towards the back room where the noise was coming from, Sam carefully picked up a piece of broken chair and opened the door. Andy and Ava trailing along close behind him while Jake and Lilly stayed further back. Sam froze when he saw what had caused the noise. He dropped the broken chair and ran.

"Pepper!" He yelled, half-surprised and half excited to see her.

Pepper turned around, and looked at Sam with unshed tears in her eyes.

"Sammy!" She cried in response before she roughly threw her arms around Sam's neck. "Oh thank god."

Sam held her tightly. He hadn't realized how much he was worried about her until he saw her and if she was okay then maybe Dean was as well. He held her a little closer, pressing his face against her neck. He was so glad that she was there that it took him several moments to remember that she has nothing in common with the rest of them so it didn't make sense for her to be there.

He pulled back slightly, still keeping his hands on her arms.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"I, um, I think so." She replied slowly. "What happened?"

"I'm not sure. What's the last thing you remember?"

"I was... I was washing my hands in the bathroom at the cafe, and then the next thing... I was here." She replied. Her eyes suddenly grew wide in a panic, "Where's Dean? Sammy, is he okay?"

Sam sighed and shook his head, "I don't know." He replied almost miserably even though he was trying not to think of any bad outcomes concerning his brother. Seeing the fear spread through Pepper's face, he quickly added, "But we'll find him. Okay? I promise."

Pepper closed her eyes, nodded and swiped her eyes with the balls of her hands.

"So, I guess you know her too?" Andy asked from behind them.

Sam remembered that the others were there and let go of Pepper before turning around to face the others.

"Yeah," Sam nodded. "This is Pepper. She's a friend. Pepper this is Andy, Ava, Jake and Lilly." He quickly introduced everyone.

"Alright, so, Sammy what are we all doing here and where exactly is here?" Pepper asked.

"I'm not really sure." said Sam. "It's gotta have something to do with the Demon though."

"What Demon?"

"The, um, yellow eyed one."

"Yellow eyed...?" Jake asked.

"Ah, yeah." said Sam. "I know it's hard to grasp but it's true."

"Why did it bring us here?" Pepper asked. "What's the point?"

Sam sighed, "I wish I knew. But what I do know is that we all seem to have special abilities and we're all twenty-three---"

"---What do you mean 'we'?" Pepper demanded, just loud enough for Sam to hear. He turned back to look at her and she went on. "I don't have any special abilities. And unless my birth certificate is wrong I'm not twenty-three either."

"I know." Sam said quickly.

"Then why the hell am I here?"

"I don't know." He replied honestly.

"Hey, do you wanna fill the rest of us in on what's going on?" Ava asked, bringing their attention back to her and everyone else.

Sam paused for a moment and looked at everyone else in turn. They deserved to know exactly what was happening. Slowly he nodded.

* * *

Dean, Bobby and John were leaning over the hood of the Impala looking at a map of the entire state. Both John and Bobby were trying to remain level headed as Dean's panic increased with every passing moment. They were all worried about Sam and Pepper but no one could deny that Dean had more cause to be worried than anyone else did. Not only were his brother and girlfriend missing but so was his unborn child. And with Pepper's due date so close he was even more on edge, so were Bobby and John for that matter they were just trying not to show it too much.

Dean had called them shortly after Sam and Pepper had gone missing, and after he calmed down enough to tell them what had happened they agreed to meet up and start searching. After hours of looking everywhere they could, they still came up with nothing so they started again. After a while they left Bobby's truck and decided the easiest thing would be if they all traveled in the Impala.

"This is it." Bobby said, gesturing to the map. "All demonic signs and omens over the past month."

"Are you joking?" Dean demanded. "There's nothing here!"

"Exactly."

"Well, come on, there's gotta be something. What about the normal, low-level stuff? You know, exorcisms, that kind of thing."

"That's what I'm telling you, there's nothing." said Bobby. "It's completely quiet."

"Well, how are we supposed to look for Sam and Pep?" Dean asked in frustration as he turned away from the map. "What, do we just close our eyes and point?"

"Dean, we're doing all we can." said John. "You need to calm down."

"Don't tell me to calm down, Dad." Dean snapped. "They've been missing for hours. Pepper's supposed to be going into labor in a few weeks, okay. And we don't even know if they're..." He let out a long breath, unable to finish that train of thought. "Look, we're completely blind and the longer we stay here doing nothing the more chance that--"

The ringing of his cell stopped his sentence. John didn't care who was calling but he was thankful for the distraction. The more Dean panicked, the more it became harder for him not to think the worse as well and John knew that Bobby must have been having the same problem by the look in his eyes.

"Ash, what do you got?" Dean asked suddenly, not in the mood for chitchat.

"Okay, listen, it's a big negatory on Sam and Peppy." Ash replied.

"Oh, come on, man!" Dean yelled. "You've gotta give us something. We're looking at a three thousand mile haystack here."

"Listen, Dean, I did find something." Ash replied.

"Well, what?"

"I can't talk over this line, Dean."

"Come on." Dean let out a sigh of frustration. "I don't have time for this!"

"Make time, okay? Because this--" Ash paused for a moment before he continued in a slightly more hushed tone. "Not only does this almost definitely help you find them, this is...it's huge. So get here. Now."

Ash hung up and Dean sighed before roughly putting his phone back in his pocket. He tried to gather his thoughts, which were racing at a hundred miles per second. He needed to be able to think clearly but inside he was petrified. He knew all about what could be happening to his brother and Pepper and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't seem to stay completely positive. He was torn between ignoring Ash, so they could continue searching and going to the RoadHouse to get whatever information Ash had. After thinking for a second, Dean knew that seeing Ash would be the best thing in the long run.

"I guess we're going to the RoadHouse." Dean told them. "Come on."

Dean didn't wait for a response as he got into the Impala. John and Bobby shared a quick look before they joined Dean.

John was a little nervous to have Dean drive since his head was clearly all over the place, but on the other hand he knew that driving might just help Dean from having a break down. John just prayed that Ash had something that could truly help them.

* * *

"So, we're soldiers in a Demon war to bring on the Apocalypse?" Jake asked.

Sam had just finished explaining to everyone what was going on and of course no one was really buying it. Even as Sam tried to convince the others, he kept a close eye on Pepper, making sure that she was always close by.

"When you put it like that-" Sam began, with a half sigh.

"And we've been picked?"

"Yes." Sam nodded.

"Why us?"

"I'm not sure, okay but look, I just know--"

"--Sam, I'm sorry." Ava said suddenly. "Psychics and spoon-bending is one thing, but demons?"

"Look, I know it sounds crazy, but-"

"-It doesn't just sound it." said Jake.

"I don't really care what you think, okay." Sam snapped. He was starting to get fed up with their attitudes and if he was ever going to start sorting this out, then he was going to need everyone's co-operation. "If we're all gathered here together, then that means it's starting and that we've gotta--"

"--the only thing I've gotta do," Jake said suddenly. "Is stay away from wackjobs, okay. I've heard enough. I'm better off on my own, FYI, so are you."

"Jake, hold on." Sam called out but Jake ignored him and simply walked off. "Jake!"

"Sammy, just..." Pepper sighed. "Leave him for a bit, okay. It's a lot to process."

"Yeah, I know. But we need to stick together. Jake, thinking that we're all better off alone is the wrong way to think right now."

"I agree." said Andy, putting up his hand. "I'm sticking close to you, Sam."

"Me too." added Ava.

"Looks like you're in charge, Sammy." Pepper said with a small smile.

"Great," Sam muttered. He sighed and shook his head slightly. "C'mon, let's go find Jake."

* * *

Sam and Jake joined the others outside the house were Sam had just saved Jake from a demon attack.

"So, what was that thing?" Jake asked, referring to the Demon.

"That thing?...I'm not sure, but I think it was an Acheri." Sam explained. "A demon that disguises itself as a little girl."

"And how dangerous are they?" Pepper asked, her eyes a little wider than normal.

"Ah, well, we've been up against far worse." He replied.

"Oh good, that makes me feel so better." She quipped back sarcastically.

"Sorry." Sam frowned. He wanted to assured her that she was safe but uncertainty was a bitch. "I wish I knew where we were."

Sam looked around and noticed Andy looking a little out of it.

"Andy, are you with me or what?"

"Give me a minute." Andy replied, stunned. "I'm still working through 'Demons are real.'"

Sam nodded, not that all surprised by Andy's reaction. After all, it was how most people reacted.

* * *

Eventually after some exploring, Sam and the others found their way to the center of the town where a large rusty bell hangs from a wooden structure. Sam took a few minutes to look at the bell. An engraving on it jogged his memory.

"I've seen that bell before." Sam thought aloud. "I think I know where we are now. Cold Oak, South Dakota. A town so haunted, every single resident fled."

"Damn and here's me without my camera." Pepper replied sarcastically while rolling her eyes.

"Good to know we're somewhere so historical." Added Ava, in a false cheery tone.

"Why in the world would that Demon or whatever put us here?" Lilly asked.

"I was wondering the same thing." Sam admitted.

"You know what?" Lilly said suddenly, in a jittery tone. "It doesn't matter. Clearly, the only sane thing to do here is get the hell out of dodge."

She turned around and began walking away from the others. She didn't get very far before Sam was calling out to her.

"Wait, hold on. Lilly, the only way out is through miles of woods." said Sam.

"Beats hanging out with Demons." Lilly pointed out, her back still turned on Sam and the others.

"Lilly, look, we don't know what's going on yet." said Sam. "I mean, we don't even know how many of them are out there right now."

"Yeah, he's right." said Jake. "We should--"

"--Don't say 'we'!" Lilly shouted as she turned around. "I'm not part of 'we'. I have nothing in common with any of you."

"Okay, look, I know--" Sam began, trying to find the right words to comfort her but she wouldn't listen.

"--You don't know anything!" She snapped. She took in a shaky breath before admitting, "I accidentally touched my girlfriend!"

"I'm sorry." Sam said after a long stretch of silence.

"Whatever. I feel like I'm in a nightmare, and it just keeps getting worse and worse."

"I've lost people, too." Sam said gently, as he thought about his mother and Jessica. Then his mind went to Dean and he added, "I have a brother out there right now that could be dead for all I know."

"Sammy!" Pepper exclaimed from behind him.

He turned around to face her and the look in her eyes, a mixture of fear and shock made him feel like he'd been punched in the gut. He hadn't meant to say that about Dean and worry her it just accidentally came out.

"I'm sorry." He quickly apologized. "I didn't mean to say..." He paused, shaking his head sadly before looking back at Lilly. "Look, we're all in bad shape. But I'm telling you, the best way out of this is to stick together."

There was another long pause and everyone's eyes seem to be on Lilly, waiting to see what she would do. Finally, she sighed and shook her head. Sam had the feeling that she was only agreeing because she had too and not because she wanted too but it didn't matter as long as she stayed with them.

"Fine." said Lilly.

Sam nodded and said a simple "Thank you."

He knew that any co-operation was better than none.

"So, ah, what do we do now?" asked Andy.

"We should probably find something to arm ourselves with." Sam replied. "In case more Demons come."

"You think there'd be any weapons here?" Jake asked.

"Well not any that you're thinking of." said Pepper.

Sam smirked slightly before be headed off towards another building, making sure that Pepper was close by of course.

"What kind of weapons are we looking for then?" asked Ava.

"We're looking for iron, silver, salt..." Sam explained.

"Salt is a weapon?" Jake asked, confused.

Sam shrugged, "It's a brave new world."

"Well, hopefully there's food in your world," said Andy. "Because I'm frickin' starving."

Sam shared an amused smile with Pepper at that before they walked inside. Jake, Ava and Andy followed and no one noticed how far Lilly was trailing behind them.

* * *

The Impala drove down the empty road towards the RoadHouse, with Dean driving a little faster than necessary. Not that John or Bobby were going to tell him to slow down. In fact if either of them were the one behind the wheel they'd probably drive even faster. When they turned a corner and saw the state of the RoadHouse, they stared wide-eyed in shock. The place had been reduced to rubble and ash with no sign of any survivors.

Dean stopped the car and looked around with a stunned expression gracing his features.

"What the hell?" He said.

The three of them shared a look of horror before getting out of the car. They split up slightly to take a better look around. John frowned deeply as worry for Ellen filled him as well as the memory of Mary's death. Being around any burnt building always made him remember the night she died and he knew that it always would.

"Oh, my god." Bobby sighed looking at the damage.

"You see Ellen?" Dean asked frantically.

"No," John called out from the other side of the bar.

Bobby shook his head, "No Ash, either."

Dean paused, trying to fight the feeling of guilt that bubbled within him. This was all his fault, it had to be somehow and if they couldn't find Ash or Ellen then... He stopped, not wanting to think about what could have happened to their friends. Suddenly something caught his eye and he looked down to see a body. It was burnt almost beyond recognition but Dean knew that it was Ash.

"Oh, Ash." Dean sighed out a breath as John and Bobby walked towards him. "Damn it!" He yelled.

* * *

Sam and the others had split up, each searching a different room of the current house they were in. Of course, Sam made sure that he and Pepper were in the same room. He felt responsible for her and was determined not to let her out of his sight for too long. Sam picked up a broken piece of pipe but dropped it when he heard a loud grimace of pain come from the opposite side of the room, where Pepper was. She was standing in front of an old chest. Her face scrunched up in pain while she rubbed her stomach with one hand.

"Hey!" He called out and rushed to her side. "Are you alright?" He asked with deep concern as he grabbed her arms.

"Yeah," she mumbled. She blinked her eyes a few times before standing up straight with a small smile. "I'm fine. I just thought that there'd be something useful in that chest."

Sam glanced at the chest then back at Pepper and nodded. He bent down and opened the chest. After rummaging through it for a second, he managed to find a knife. It wasn't silver but it would do. He quickly put it in his back pocket before standing back up.

"Are you sure you're alright?" He asked again. "You look like you were in pain."

"I think I'm just stressed." She replied.

"You were in pain because of stress? Are you sure because--" Sam started with a deep frown over his face.

"--Sammy, I'm fine. Really. It's just that...I'm trying to understand what's going on here and not freak out at the same time. I still don't know why I'm here. I just," She sighed, tears gathering in her eyes.

Sam did the only thing he could think of. He opened up his arms and allowed her to step closer to him before he hugged her tightly, trying to assure her that things would work out. After a several long moments Sam stepped back.

"Pepper," Sam began with a deep sigh. "I'm really sorry that you have to be here. If I, if I knew a way to get you out then I would do it in a heartbeat. No matter what the cost, but--"

"--I know." She nodded quickly.

"I promise, though, I am going to look out for you. Okay? Nothing's going to happen to you." He said, giving her a small smile. He gestured to her stomach and added, "Or my little nephew. Not as long as I'm here. I won't let it."

Pepper smiled, "Nephew? It could be a girl you know."

"Yeah, but I got money on it being a boy." Sam replied on a laugh.

Pepper rolled her eyes but continued to smile and Sam was glad that he cheered her up a bit.

When Sam managed to sober a bit he looked more serious than he had in minutes.

"I meant it Pepper. You're important and not just to Dean, but to me as well. I mean, I guess you're family now, right?"

Sam paused as Pepper looked like she was about to cry again and he wondered if he had said the wrong thing.

"Oh. Sorry, Pepper. I didn't mean to upset you." He began.

Pepper shook her head. "-I'm not crying 'cause I'm upset." She told him.

Sam frowned. "Then why are you crying?"

"Because that has got to be one of the nicest things anyone's ever said to me, Sammy. Thank you." She slowly stood on tiptoes and placed a gentle kiss upon his cheek.

Sam nodded slowly. 'It's true. Despite how messed up this family is, you are now a part of it and besides I can't image what Dean would do to me if he found out that I didn't take care of you." He joked but frowned when Pepper's expression changed to a look of fear. "What is it?"

"Sammy, what if Dean... What if he didn't...make it?" She licked her lips briefly out of nervousness. "I don't think I can do this without him."

"Hey," Sam said forcefully, while once again grabbing her arms. "Even if something has happened to Dean, and really don't believe that, but even if something did happened you know that you wouldn't be alone. I'd still look out for you."

"I know that. It just wouldn't be the same." She said and then paused, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "Oh, I'm getting sick of being so emotional. These hormones are getting me all out of..." She trailed off as she noticed Ava, standing in the hall behind them. She was massaging her head like she had a bad migraine. "...Whack. Hey, Ava are you alright?"

Sam turned to see Ava then he and Pepper walked over to her.

"Yeah, I'm just..." Ava began. "I don't know, a little dizzy."

"Are you sure its not some kind of--" Sam started to ask but Ava quickly stopped him.

"What, some kind of freaky vision thing? No, more like I'd kill for a sandwich. I haven't eaten since...well, who knows." Ava shrugged, then offered them a small smile. "It must be worse for you though," she added, waving a hand towards Pepper. "Being pregnant and all."

"No, I'm okay. For now anyway."

"Ava, are you sure you're all right?" Sam asked.

"I'm fine, except for every single thing that's happening." Ava admitted.

"You guys!" Andy yelled excitedly from another room. "I found something!"

Sam led Pepper and Ava the short distance towards the kitchen where Andy had been. Andy met them at the doorway with two bags held above his head. Jake rushed over to see what was going on.

"Salt!" Andy exclaimed proudly.

"That's great, Andy." Sam smiled approvingly. "Now, we all can..." He trailed off as it dawned on him that their group was missing a person. "Where's Lilly?"

Everyone looked around and Ava called out, "Lilly?"

"Lilly!" Sam yelled, getting the horrible sense that something was wrong.

Then everyone froze when they heard the distinct sound of a giggling child, and they all knew that it had to be the Acheri. Sam caught himself and quickly gestured that they should all go outside and check however he regretted it as soon as he saw Lilly. She was hanging from the water tower lifeless.

Pepper gasped and buried her face against Sam's shoulder. She took a deep breath then moved away and walked back towards the side door of the house while the other's continued to watch Lilly's body.

"Oh, my god! That's officially - Sam!" Ava cried, freaking out a little bit more than Pepper was. "She's dead! She's dead!" She turned around to look up at Sam. "You said we were chosen for a reason. That is not chosen!" She snapped, pointing towards Lilly. "That's killed! Okay, we have to get out of here."

Ava tried to move past Sam, but he grabbed her arms to keep her still.

"Stop."

"Yeah, I second that emotion." Andy said, while nodding.

"Not sure that's an option." said Jake.

"What?" Ava demanded in confusion.

"Lilly was trying to leave." Sam explained. "The Demon's not gonna let us get away that easy. We've gotta gear up for the next attack."

"Oh, gear up?"

"Yeah." Sam nodded.

"Okay, well, I'm not a soldier. I can't do that!" Ava replied loudly.

"Well, if you wanna stay alive, you're gonna have to." Sam told her.

He looked back up at Lilly one more time and was deeply sorry that he could not help her, but he knew that he couldn't dwell on it right now. Not when there were four other people counting on him, well five if he included his unborn nephew or niece.

"Let's go." said Sam.

Ava walked past him and rushed back inside, walking right past Pepper who was leaning against the wall with her head hanging low.

"I'll get her down." Jake told Sam.

Sam nodded before they headed back towards the door. Jake walked off in search of something that would get him up to the water tower while Andy lingered close to Sam. Sam walked over to Pepper and pulled her into a hug. After a short moment, he felt her shiver and sigh against him. He pulled back and took off his jacket before offering it to her. She didn't say 'thank you' but nodded which was enough for Sam.

"You know," Sam said after watching Pepper wrap herself in his jacket. "I was just thinking about how much Dean would help right now."

Pepper nodded, "Yeah."

Sam sighed, "I'd give my arm for a working phone."

"You know, you may not need one." Andy said suddenly. When Sam and Pepper both frowned at him, he quickly continued. "I've never tried it long-distance before, but do you have anything of Dean's on you? Like, something he touched?"

Sam thought for a moment, trying to remember if they had anything on them of Dean's. He looked over at Pepper and realized that they definitely had something of Dean's but Sam wasn't about to let Andy use Pepper and the baby in his psychic trick. Not that Sam didn't trust Andy, but he didn't know what Andy was planning to do. While Sam was thinking, Pepper put her hands into the pockets of his jacket then pulled out a small bit of paper. It was a receipt and when she looked at it, she let out a triumphant 'Ha!' causing Sam focus back on her and Andy.

"What is it?" He asked her.

"It's a receipt that Dean signed." She replied, and then turned to Andy. "Will this do?"

"Yeah." Andy nodded. He took the receipt from Pepper but frowned when he saw the actually signature itself. "D. Hasseloff?" He asked.

"Yeah." Sam shrugged. "That's Dean's signature."

"One of his many signatures." said Pepper.

"It's hard to explain."

Andy suppressed a chuckle, though Sam wasn't sure if it was over the idea of Dean having to have many signatures or the way that he was trying to explain it. Either way, Andy simply smiled.

"All right." He said.

* * *

Dean, John and Bobby walked over the rubble that was the RoadHouse and headed back to the Impala. Dean was all but fuming in anger and frustration. They had lost even more time coming here and they still had no leads on Pepper and Sam.

"This is..." Bobby began, hoping to say something comforting but he realized that there was nothing he could say right now, and nothing he could say would calm Dean down.

"What the hell did Ash know?" Dean demanded. "We've got no way of knowing where Ellen is, or if she's even alive." He walked around until he stopped by the hood of the car, just beside the driver side door and faced John and Bobby who were standing on the other side. "We've got no clue what Ash was gonna tell us. Now, how the hell are we gonna find Pep and Sam?"

"We'll find them." Bobby said sternly, jaw set.

Dean opened his mouth to argue when suddenly a searing pain shot through his skull. He bent over slightly and clutched his head, pain written all across his features.

"Dean?" John asked with a deep concern.

Dean kept clutching his head and didn't respond. The pain got worse as flashed of random images appeared behind his eyes. Images of Sam, of Pepper and of a giant bell. With one hand on the car as leverage and the other still holding his head, Dean blinked a few times before shaking his head as the images faded away.

"What was that?" Bobby softly demanded.

"I know." Dean replied. "A headache?"

"You get headaches like that a lot?"

"No. Must be stress." Dean joked, because he had no freakin clue what that was. All he knew was that it hurt like a bitch. "I could have sworn I saw something..." He trailed off and wiped a hand over his face.

"What do you mean?" Bobby asked.

"Like a vision? Like what your brother gets?" John asked.

"What? No!" Dean snapped.

"We're just saying-"

"-Come on, I'm not some psychic."

Dean turned and looked at the burnt ruble, trying to come up with some sort of rational explanation of what had just happened to him. He didn't even get to argue that seeing visions was a Sam thing, before he was hit with another set of images exactly the same as before only this time stronger, as was the pain that came with them.

Dean grunted in pain and collapsed onto the car. One hand curled into a fist on top of the Impala while the other held his head. In an instant, John and Bobby rushed to his side.

"Dean? Dean!" John shouted, gripping his son's shoulder tightly.

Bobby stood by Dean's other side and took hold of his other shoulder. "Are you with us?" He asked.

Dean slowly opened his eyes and blinked as he caught his breath.

"Yeah, I think so." He muttered while shaking his head and leaning against the Impala for support. "I saw Pepper and Sam. I saw them."

"It was a vision." Bobby confirmed.

"Yeah. I don't know how, but yeah." Dean nodded briefly. He pushed off the car and sucked in a breath, "Whew. That was about as much fun as getting kicked in the jewels."

"When you saw them did they look all right?" Bobby asked.

"I couldn't really tell." Dean admitted a little sadly. "But I think they were alright."

"At least they're together." John pointed out. "Sam isn't going to let anything happen to Pepper."

Dean nodded, "I know."

"What else did you see?"

"Uh...there was a bell."

"What kind of bell?" Bobby asked.

Dean thought for a moment and tried to remember more about the bell. "Like a big - big bell, with some kind of engraving on it, I don't know."

"Engraving?" Bobby frowned.

"Yeah," Dean sighed, still trying to clear his head and think straight. He made a brief mental note to go easier on Sammy if he ever had another vision again cause the things felt like getting kicked in the head fifty times.

"Was it a tree?" Bobby suddenly asked. "Like, an oak tree?"

"Yeah," Dean slowly replied. "Exactly."

"Bobby, what is it?" John demanded.

Bobby looked them both square in the eyes and with a very stern and serious expression he said, "I know where they are."

**TBC**

**Next Chapter - Yellow Eyes Plans**

**Authors Notes - **_I know that this is the first time I am writing about Andy, but let's pretend that the Winchesters met him and all that stuff in 'Simon Said' still happened. Oh, except Pepper was in the motel room so she didn't meet Andy which is why he doesn't know her when he sees her but he knows Sam. Okay so I hope that makes sense. Only two chapters to go :-)_


	9. Yellow Eyes Plans

**Authors Notes - **_*Rocks backwards and forwards* I do not like writing fight scenes. I do not like writing fight scenes. I do not like writing fight scenes.... Um, ignore my break down and please continue reading._

**CHAPTER NINE - YELLOW EYES PLANS  
**  
Night had fallen all too quickly but Sam had thankfully convinced everyone to barricade in the one room with a line of salt along the doorways and windowsills. Sam sat in one corner on a bench against the wall. He kept a close eye on everyone else. Jake was standing by the main door, holding a knife tightly in his hands. Clearly, his experience in the army prepared him for long stakeouts because he seemed to be more awake than anybody else was. Poor Andy had collapsed minutes ago and was sleeping at a large wooden table, his arms folded under his head. Ava was sitting at the same table, crying silently over the news that her fiancé had died. Sam watched her for a long moment. He felt bad for telling her but knew that he couldn't have lied to her about it. He wanted to go over and comfort her but he could tell that she needed to be alone and since he was not about to let her go off anywhere this was the next best thing.

Sitting beside Sam, was Pepper still wearing his jacket. She had curled her legs up onto the bench and had her head resting against the wall. It had taken Sam ages to convince her to go to sleep. She was both physically and emotionally exhausted but she didn't feel safe going to sleep until Sam promised that he would wake her if anything happened. Sam sensed that there was something else going on with her apart from just being stressed but he couldn't figure out what it was.

Sam was struggling to keep his eyes open himself. Fighting the need to sleep with the need to stay sharp and keep watch over the others. Sleep seemed to be winning the battle though because his eyelids began drifting shut for longer periods of time. When his head lolled slightly he re-opened his eyes to see the Yellow Eyed Demon standing smugly behind Jake.

Sam tensed up, "Jake! Behind you!" He yelled, but Jake did not even make eye contact with him. Sam frowned, a million thoughts running through his head. Maybe he had gone crazy. Maybe Jake was possessed. Maybe...

"Howdy, Sam." The Demon smiled.

Realization suddenly dawned on Sam. "I'm dreaming."

"What do you say you and I take a little walk?" The Demon suggested.

Sam hesitated and looked back at Pepper, still sleeping against the wall.

"Don't worry, Sam." The Demon said and waved a hand slightly. "You're still sleeping. You won't really be moving from that spot."

Reluctantly, Sam stood up and followed the Demon outside.

* * *

Sam slowly followed the Demon down the front steps of the house and in to the middle of the street.

"You're awfully quiet, Sam. You're not mad at me are you?" the Demon joked.

Sam came right up behind the Demon and growled, "I'm gonna tear you to shreds, I swear--"

The Demon cut him off with a deep chuckle. "When you wake up, tiger, you give it your best shot."

"Where's my brother?" Sam demanded.

"Quit worrying about Dean. I'd worry more about yourself."

"Why?" Sam spat. "You gonna kill me?"

He stopped walking and stepped back with his arms out, daring the Demon to take his best shot. Not the smartest idea he has ever had but it was not as if he had anything better. The Demon only turned and smiled slightly.

"I'm trying to help you. That's why we're talking." He explained. "You're the one I'm rooting for."

Sam frowned, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Welcome to the Miss America pageant. Why do you think you're here?' Yellow Eyes asked. "This is a competition. Only one of you crazy kids is gonna make it out of here alive."

"I thought we were supposed to be--"

"--Soldiers in a coming war?" Yellow eyes interrupted. He grinned before continuing, "You are. But here's the thing, I don't need soldiers. I need soldier. I just need the one."

"Why?"

"Well, I couldn't just come out and say that, could I, Sam? I had to let everyone think they had a fighting chance. But what I need is a leader."

"To lead who?"

"Oh, I've already got my army." The Demon replied vaguely. "Or I will soon, anyway."

"You son of a bitch!"

"Honestly," The Demon continued not fazed in the slightest by Sam's outburst. "I'm surprised you hadn't guessed. I mean, why do you think so many children flamed out already? Max Miller and Andy's brother, what's-his-name? They weren't strong enough. I'm looking for the best and brightest of your generation."

"My generation?"

"Well, there's other generations, but let's just worry about yours."

"Is that why Peppers here?" Sam demanded, a new sort of rage rising inside of him. "Is she supposed to be another generation of psychics?"

Yellow Eyes chuckled again, shaking his head. "No, not her, though that would make things easier for you to grasp."

"Then why is she here? What the hell as she got to do with any of this?"

"Payback. After everything you and your family have put me through - especially Dean, killing my children - Getting one of you to settle the score seemed a little poetic."

"Settle the score? You..." Sam frowned until he figured it out and his eyes became wide with fear. "The baby, you know about the baby? How?"

"Please, Sam. There's not much about your life that I don't know about." Smirked Yellow Eyes.

"So why bring her here? If you wanted to kill her and the baby you could have tried it already."

"True. However, it's a little more complicated than that. I had to wait for the right time, which is almost here." The Demon held a hand up quickly before Sam could demand further explanations. "But we're getting sidetracked. Sam, I wanna give you the inside track. You're tough. You're smart. You're well-trained, thanks to your Daddy." By this point, the Demon was standing directly in front of Sam. "Sam--Sammy--you're my favorite."

"You ruined my life." said Sam. His voice suddenly calmer. "You killed everyone I love."

"The cost of doing business, I'm afraid." The Demon shrugged slightly, with no remorse, though Sam didn't expect any. "I mean, sweet little Jessica -- she just had to die."

Sam's jaw clenched tightly at that. He knew that he had no way of attacking the Demon so he remained still and simply listened.

"You were all set to marry that little blonde thing, become a tax lawyer with two kids, a beer gut, and a little McMansion in the suburbs. I needed you sharp on the road, honing your skills. Your gifts."

"What about my mom?"

"That was bad luck." The demon admitted.

"Bad luck?" Sam repeated.

"She walked in on us. Wrong place, wrong time."

Sam's confusion deepened. "What does that mean?"

"It wasn't about her. It was about you. It's always been about you."

"What?'

"Well...okay. You caught me in a charitable mood. I'll show you..."

* * *

Sam's eyes snapped open. It took him a few second to realize that he wasn't in his old house watching his mother die, but instead was back in South Dakota with Jake and Andy standing over him, and Pepper still sleeping beside him.

Jake was shaking his shoulder. "Sam, wake up! Ava's missing."

"What?" Sam asked as he stood up, causing Jake and Andy to step back. "How long has she been missing?"

"I don't know. I just shut my eyes for a couple of seconds and when I opened them again she was gone." Jake replied. "Come on, we gotta go look for her."

"Ah, yeah, right." Sam nodded. "Andy, can you do me a favor and stay here with Pepper?"

"Um, what if something happens?" Andy asked.

"You'll be fine, just don't leave this room and don't break any of the salt barriers." Sam replied. "Okay? And if Pepper wakes up let her know that I'll be right back."

Andy gave a quick nod, Sam glanced down at Pepper one more time before he, and Jake ventured outside.

"I'll take the barn and hotel." Jake suggested. "You take the houses."

"All right." Sam quickly agreed. "Meet back here in ten minutes, okay?"

"Okay."

Jake turned and headed in one direction while Sam continued in the other.

* * *

Just as Sam was about to break into another one of the houses he heard Pepper scream out his name. He turned and ran, nearly tripping down the old wooden stairs on his way. When he ran into the room (that was meant to be protected by the salt barriers), he saw Pepper kneeling on the floor over Andy.

"Pepper!" Sam yelled and dropped onto his knees in front of her.

He took a good look at Andy and realized that he was dead. His body had been ripped apart. His chest was covered in blood and claw marks. Sam lifted his eyes to look at Pepper to see if she was hurt as well. While she had blood all over her, there were no marks to indicate that any of it was hers.

Pepper looked up at him with tears spilling down her face. "Sammy!" She cried. "I--I don't know what happened. I woke up and Andy was screaming with that Demon on him. I threw some salt at it, but I don't know where it went."

Sam's eyes darted around the room for a second before returning to Pepper and Andy.

"How did this happen? The place was completely salted."

"I... Sammy, where's Jake and Ava?" Pepper suddenly asked.

"Ava's gone missing. Jake's out looking for her." Sam replied in a long rush. "I'm sorry; I thought you were safe here. I--"

"--Sammy, please just get us out of here." She pleaded.

Sam wanted so badly to be able to do that for her, but there was nothing he could do about it. He was about to tell her something, maybe lie and tell her that they could leave now but he was stopped from doing anything when he heard a noise out in the hall. He tensed and listened carefully for a few seconds.

"Pepper, I'm going to see what that is." Sam told her, hating himself for saying the words. If he left her and something happened then he would never be able to forgive himself. Hell, neither would Dean. "I swear I'll only be a second then I'll be back."

"Okay." Pepper nodded.

Sam reached out and took hold of one of her hands giving it a quick squeeze as he said firmly, "I'm coming back."

Then Sam stood up and after checking that all the salt barriers were back in place he left the room.

* * *

"Ava?" Sam yelled.

Ava was lying on the floor of the far end of the hall. She had blood on her clothes. She looked up as Sam approached her and he could see the tears in her eyes.

"Sam! What happened?" She asked, while pulling herself off the floor.

"Ava, where were you? We were looking for you."

"I just went to get some water from the well." She explained. "I was only gone maybe, like, two minutes! I was on my way back when... I don't know what happened."

"You shouldn't have gone outside. Ava, we have to stay here..." Sam looked at her shirt again and noticed that there was no rip in the fabric, which did not make sense with all the blood that was there.

"Ava, whose blood is that?" He asked while pointing to her shirt.

Ava glanced down before looking back up at Sam. "I don't know, maybe the Demon--"

"--That's Andy's blood isn't it?" Sam demanded.

"What?" Ava was shocked. "You think that I--"

"--I'll tell you what I think: Five months. You're the only one with all that time you can account for." Sam accused. "And that headache you got? Right when the Demon got Lilly."

"What are you trying to say?" Ava cried.

Sam looked at her and shook his head as everything that had happened suddenly made sense. "What happened to you?"

"Nothing!"

Sam stared her down, not buying into her act any more. Eventually she seemed to give in. The look of fear on her face was quickly replaced with a slight smile and she took in a breath before letting it out again.

"Had you going though, didn't I?" She asked, while wiping away her tears. "Yeah. I've been here a long time. And not alone, either. People just keep showing up. Children, like us. Batches of three or four at a time."

"You killed them?" Sam asked, shocked and disturbed. "All of them?"

Ava shrugged, "I'm the undefeated heavyweight champ."

"Oh, my god." Sam let out a breath.

"Don't think god has much to do with this, Sam."

"How could you?" He demanded.

"I had no choice. It was me or them." Ava explained, as if that made it all okay. "After a while, it was easy. It was even kind of fun. I just stopped fighting it."

"Fighting what?"

"Who we are, Sam. If you just quit your hand-wringing and open yourself up, you have no idea what you can do." Ava said with a smile. "The learning curve is so fast," She clicked her fingers. "It's crazy, the switches that just flip in your brain. I can't believe I started out just having dreams. Do you know what I can do now?"

"Control demons." Sam replied.

"Ah," She drawled slightly. "You are quick on the draw." She paused and placed her hands against her temples.

Sam turned around and saw black smoke start to appear behind him. He knew that it was a demon coming to do Ava's bidding.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, Sam." Ava shook her head ever so slightly. "But it's over."

Sam spun around just as Ava closed her eyes tightly in concentration. Sam bent down and luckily picked up an old copper pipe and gripped it tightly, ready to use it to defend himself. About half a second later though, Sam heard a snapping sound and spun back around just in time to see Ava's body drop to the floor and Jake's hands slip from her neck. The black smoke disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.

Sam stared down at Ava's body then looked up at Jake, who was also looking at Ava. Jake seemed shocked that he could just snap her neck like that. Sure, Ava wasn't an innocent in this; she had been killing people for months. Sam wanted to ask Jake if he was okay but he knew that they didn't have time. They needed to find a way to leave this town and they needed to do it now.

"Thanks." Sam nodded.

"Yeah..."

"We've gotta get out of here." Sam glanced down at Ava one more time. He dropped the pipe and rushed out of the room with Jake right behind him.

They ran back into the room where Andy and Pepper where. Pepper had moved away from Andy's body and was sitting against the wall on the opposite side of the room. Sam walked over to her and knelt down in front of her.

"Pepper, we have to go." He told her.

Pepper nodded and wiped her eyes with the sleeve of Sam's jacket.

"W-what happened to Ava?" She asked, while letting Sam help her to her feet.

"She's dead. She killed Lilly." Jake replied, maybe so that Sam would not have to.

Pepper let out a breath and squeezed her eyes shut, letting more tears roll down her cheek. Sam knew that she was not shedding tears over Ava, but for the pure emotional stress that all of this was putting on her.

"C'mon." Sam said gently. "We need to get out of here."

Pepper opened her eyes and nodded once. Then Sam grabbed hold of one of her hands and began leading her out of the house with Jake following behind them.

* * *

Dean drove the Impala along a road, close to the edge of some woods and he wasn't exactly following any speed limit either. John and Bobby's warning to go a little slower (so that they didn't all die) fell on deaf ears. All Dean cared about was getting to Pepper and his brother and he didn't care if he got there in one piece or not.

At the speed he was going, Dean nearly did not see the massive tangle of tree's that were blocking the road. Thankfully, though, Bobby pointed it out and the Impala came to a sudden stop. As John and Bobby got out of the car, Dean let out a frustrated breath, feeling as though the whole universe was on some sick mission to keep him from getting to his family.

"Looks like the rest of the ways on foot." said Bobby after he'd inspected the trouble on the road.

He and John then moved to the trunk and started to grab whatever weapons they could. Dean quickly joined them and picked up a shotgun. He checked to make sure it was loaded before he closed the trunk.

"Let's go." Dean said and didn't wait for a response from the others as he took off.

* * *

Sam still held on tightly to Pepper's hand as he led her towards the middle of the town. He was still trying to think of the best way to get the hell out of there. He had noticed that Pepper's breathing and become more rapid but he thought it was just because she was getting more and more stressed and emotional about...well everything.

"I think we can make it out of here now." Sam said and squeezed Pepper's hand to comfort her.

"But the Acheri demon..." Jake began.

"No, no, no." Sam quickly replied. "Ava was summoning it, controlling it. It shouldn't come back now that she's dead. We've gotta go."

Behind Sam and Pepper, Jake shook his head and came to a stop.

"Not 'we', Sam." said Jake.

Sam turned around to face him with a frown,

"Only one of us is getting out of here." Jake went on. "I'm sorry."

"What?" Sam demanded.

"I had a vision. That Yellow-Eyed Demon or whatever it was, he talked to me. He told me how it was."

"No, Jake, listen." Sam began desperately trying to get Jake to hear sense. "You can't listen to him."

"Sam, he's not letting us go. Only one. Now, if we don't play along, he'll kill all three of us." said Jake.

Sam unconsciously moved a step forward so that his body was between Jake and Pepper while Jake continued.

"Now, I like you, man. I do. And you seem nice," Jake added looking over Sam's shoulder to Pepper.

"Then don't talk about killing us!" Pepper snapped, with one hand over her stomach.

"Look, it's not something that I want to do." Jake replied. "But do the math here. What goods it do for us all to die? Now, I can get out of here. I get close to the demon, I can kill the bastard."

"You come with us, we can kill him together."

Jake shook his head, "How do I know you won't turn on me?"

"I won't." Sam said, looking him straight in the eye.

"I don't know that."

"Sam isn't the one talking about killing you or the pregnant woman!" Pepper snapped.

"Pepper," Sam said, tugging on her hand. The last thing he needed was for her to provoke Jake in to doing something they would both regret.

Sam watched Jake for a long moment. Then he reluctantly let go of Pepper's hand and held his hands up in a sign of surrender.

"Okay, look," Sam said, while reaching into his pocket and pulling out his knife. He made sure that Jake was watching the knife as he bent down and slowly placed it on the ground. "Just come with us, Jake. Don't do this. Don't play into what it wants."

There was a long pause where Sam and Pepper waited on baited breath to see what Jake would do. Sam was trying to think of the quickest way to get Pepper as far away from Jake as possible if he needed to. Slowly, Jake bent down to the ground just like Sam had done and placed his own weapon beside Sam's knife. Sam let out a breath of relief as Jake stood back up. At least that was one less thing he'd have to worry about.

"Okay." Sam smiled.

Sam relaxed a little too soon though, because while one minute Jake was looking calm, then next he swung his arm and hit Sam in the jaw. The impact of the punch sent Sam flying into the air bumping Pepper on the way and forcing her to stumble to the ground. Sam heard Pepper cry out but it barely registered as he crashed into a wooden gate before landing on the ground.

Sam winced in pain but tried to push it aside as he struggled to get up. He looked over and saw Jake approaching him, kicking a broken bit of the fence out of his way. It was then that Sam remembered hitting Pepper and he looked over to her. He saw her lying on the ground a few feet away from Jake. Sam couldn't tell how badly she was hurt but he was glad that for now Jake was focusing on him. Sam had a better chance of defending himself against Jake even with Jake's super strength. If he could just keep Jake busy then maybe Pepper could get away. As long as Jake's full attention was on Sam, there was a chance.

Suddenly Jake was standing over him. Pepper turned onto her side to see them. Just as Jake got close enough, Sam lifted one leg and kicked him in the stomach three times. It didn't cause much damage but it did cause Jake to stumble backwards allowing Sam to get on his feet. The one thing that was constantly running through Sam's mind was that he had to keep Jake as far away from Pepper as possible. This thought distracted Sam and it gave Jake the opportunity to punch him in the shoulder. Sam cried out as the force from the blow turned him around. Then Jake hit him in the back and Sam cried out once more and fell back to the ground, clutching his arm that was more than likely broken or dislocated.

Sam got back on his feet as Jake moved towards him. Everything after that happened pretty fast. Jake went to punch him, but Sam moved out of the way and Jake ended up punching the fence. His hand was caught which gave Sam a chance to really fight back. Grabbing hold of Jake's shoulders, Sam started kneeing him as hard as he could in the gut and chest. Then by the time Jake pulled his arm free, he was a little wobbly. He stumbled and nearly fell over, and before he could right himself, Sam kicked him with all the strength he had. Jake crashed into the fence and broke another part of it, landing a short distance up from where Pepper laid.

Jake had hit his head, so Sam had a few extra seconds as Jake struggled with consciousness. While Jake slowly moved, Sam walked over to their abandon weapons and picked up Jake's iron rod just as Jake stood up again. Sam swung the rod with his good arm and knocked Jake back down. Jake's head lolled to the side and then stilled.

Sam stared down at him, breathing heavily as he tried to get his anger under control. He clutched the iron rod tightly in his hand and raised it ever so slightly. He thought about how easy it would be to bring it down across Jake's head but as soon as that thought crossed his mind, he knew it was a bad idea. He threw the rod to the ground. He would not become a killed, at least not like that. Demons were one thing but a fellow human, especially an unconscious one did not deserve to die.

Behind him, Pepper cried out in pain and Sam spun around and ran towards her. When he reached her, he dropped to his knees beside her and reached out to help her sit up.

"Hey, are - are you okay?" He asked in one long breath while looking her over with a worried eye.

She shook her head violently, tears spilling down her face. Sam panicked. He didn't know what to do. Pepper was obviously in a lot of pain, but he had no idea how much damage that fall had caused her or the baby for that matter. And Sam had no idea how he was going to get them the hell out of there.

"SAM!"

Sam and Pepper both looked at each other with wide daring hopeful eyes as they heard the sound of Dean's voice drifting towards them. Sam helped Pepper to her feet, while trying not to wince in front of her as the movement put strain on his injured arm. Besides, she looked like she was in much worse pain than he was. They turned around and saw, Dean, John and Bobby walking towards them.

The three men all visibly relaxed when they saw Sam and Pepper, both alive.

"Dean!" Sam yelled excitedly. He felt like a huge weight lifted from his shoulders.

Sam felt Pepper relax beside him for the first time in hours and he felt more relieved than he could ever remember feeling in his entire life and smiled when his brother, father and Bobby walked towards them.

Behind Pepper and Sam, Jake had regained consciousness and had picked up Sam's knife. Dean was the first to see him and raised his gun in Jake's direction.

"Sam, look out!" He yelled.

Sam turned around and saw Jake lunge at him. Sam pushed Pepper out of the way and heard her cry out once more. Sam tried to fight Jake off with his good arm but with Jake's super strength, he wasn't having much luck. John, Bobby and Dean all broke out into a run as they tried to come to Sam's aid. Then a sudden shot was fired and Jake stumbled backwards before dropping the knife. Sam spun around and saw John standing off to his left with the barrel of his gun smoking. Sam turned back around to Jake who was clutching his side and making a run for the woods.

"Than--" Sam began but was interrupted by Pepper, who cried out once more.

Sam turned back to her. He hadn't realized that when he had pushed her away from Jake, he'd pushed her to the ground again. Dean was at beside her in an instant. His gun laying forgotten in the dirt where he'd dropped it. Dean could barely contain the fear he felt as he saw all the blood on her shirt. He reached out and ran his hands over her arms, chest, stomach and up to her face, brushing her hair back.

"Oh god, are you okay?" He asked, looking into her blue eyes.

"No!" She cried and squeezed her eyes shut.

"Why? - What? -" Dean started to ask when Bobby came up behind them.

Bobby knelt down beside Pepper and did a quick look around then sighed deeply as he realized what was going on.

"-Pepper, have you gone into labor?" Bobby asked gently, placing one hand on her shoulder. "Did your water break?"

"What?" Dean asked, turning his head sharply to Bobby.

Pepper nodded before crying out in pain again, reaching out for Dean's hands. Dean took hold of her hands and squeezed them as tight as he could trying t comfort her, even though inside he was beyond freaking out.

"But, it's too soon, right?" Dean asked panicked. "This is bad."

John stepped up and placed a strong hand on Dean's shoulder. Dean turned his head to look up at him.

"Everything is going to be okay, son." John said in his stern that's-an-order voice. Hoping to ease his son's stress.

Dean nodded mutely and turned back to Pepper.

"Dean," Pepper sighed, as she tried to catch her breath.

Dean took in a breath and moved closer to her. He leaned in and rested his forehead against hers while giving her hands another squeeze.

"Yeah?" He breathed.

"Can you do something for me?"

Dean closed his eyes and brushed his lips against hers. "You name it."

Pepper breathed, "Can you get us out of here?"

Dean made a short sound between a sigh and a laugh. He pulled back and gave her his famous Dean Winchester grin. He quickly kissed her one more time and then stood and helped her to as well. Bobby stood up as well and put his arms around one side of Pepper while Dean was on her other side and together they helped her to walk.

John picked up Dean's gun and held it with his own as he walked towards Sam to see if he needed help. Sam was glad for the offer but really, he didn't need it. His arm was hurt but apart from that, he was fine.

"Come on, the Impala's fifteen minutes walk from here." Bobby called back to John and Sam. "Hurry up!"

Sam and John began to follow behind them.

"Things are going to be okay, right Dad?" Sam asked quietly as they walked.

"You're damn right it will." John replied firmly.

John had to believe that because if anything did go wrong, John wouldn't know what to do. He didn't think that his boys would know what to do either, and they shouldn't have to find out.

"I'll tell you one thing though." John lightly began, trying to offer his youngest some form of hope. "It's gonna be a hell of a tight fit back in the Impala."

**TBC**

**Next Chapter - Welcome To The World**


	10. Welcome To The World

**CHAPTER TEN - WELCOME TO THE WORLD**

They had made it back to the Impala all in one piece, and John had been right, it was a tight fit especially since Dean and Pepper were the only ones sitting in the back leaving the other three men to cram into the front. John was driving and Bobby was in the passenger seat with Sam sitting in between them. Sam was holding his arm gently. Even though John had popped it back into place after Jake had dislocated it, the thing still hurt a bit and it was probably bruised as well. Bobby was fiddling with everyone's cell phones trying to get a signal on one so that he could call 911 for help but he wasn't having much luck.

Pepper was stretched out in the back with her legs braced against one of the doors. Dean was sitting behind her and was taking most of her weight against his chest as she leaned against him. He kept rubbing his hands along her back and stomach in the hopes of helping her some how.

"Breath, Sweetie. Breath." Dean said into her ear.

"Oh shut up, Dean." Pepper snapped between deep puffs of breaths.

Dean closed his mouth and looked up, catching John's eye in the rearview mirror as Pepper cried out again.

"Getting anything there, Bobby?" John asked as he broke eye contact with Dean to watch the road again.

John was finding it hard to keep the car steady as he drove since he knew the movement was probably making Pepper feel worse. It didn't help that they seemed to be driving on the windiest, bumpiest road in the country.

"'Fraid not." Bobby gritted in frustration. He shook his head and placed the phones in his lap. He craned his neck back to look at Pepper. "How are you doing back there, Pepper?"

"How do you think I'm go--Aah!" Pepper screamed through gritted teeth as she was hit with another contraction.

Dean used one hand to brush her hair away from her forehead while the other took hold of one of hers, linking there fingers together before letting her squeeze as tightly as she wanted, which as it turned out was pretty damn hard. Dean bit back any comment he may have had about the pain in his hand and instead pressed his lips against Pepper's temple.

"It's gonna be alright." Dean murmured against her skin.

The car fell into an uncomfortable silence after that, with only the sounds of Pepper's cries and harsh breathing filling the air.

"Hey, Dad?" Sam began softly, hoping that Dean and Pepper couldn't hear him. "What are we going to do about the Demon? I mean, he is still out there and we don't know what he's planning. We should--"

"--Sam, seriously shut up!" Dean yelled from the backseat. Apparently, Sam hadn't been as quiet as he thought. "Now is so not the time for that."

Sam looked over his shoulder and nodded sheepishly. Dean was right, they could deal with Yellow Eyes another time, like maybe when Pepper wasn't about to give birth to Dean's child. Sam was about to apologize but just as he opened his mouth he was cut off by Pepper's scream.

"Aaah! Oh god!" She screamed and punched Dean's knee accidentally. "Oh that's it. John you need to stop the car."

"That may not be such a good idea." John called over his shoulder. "We're still miles from any help and like Sammy said, the demon is still out there somewhere."

"Yeah, I know but..." Pepper trailed off while breathing through clenched teeth once more.

Dean squeezed her hand again then looked up at his father, again catching the older man's eyes in the rearview mirror.

"Dad, please." He pleaded. "Pull over."

John paused for half a second. The tone in his son's voice sent a slight chill down his spine. John had heard that tone come out of his son just once before. Last year when they when in that cabin and he had been possessed by the Demon. Dean had pleaded with him then in a voice laced with deep fear. It was something that John dreaded hearing from either of his sons.

John nodded and as carefully as he could, he pulled the Impala off to the side of the road. He turned off the engine as the others began climbing out. Dean helped Pepper get to her feet. Sam and John took their phones from Bobby and joined in on trying to get a damn signal.

Less than a few minutes later, Pepper was leaning against the hood of the Impala. Her hands clasped together in front of her and her head bent low resting on her hands. She tried to focus on her breathing like Dean was instructing her to. Dean was of course right by her side. He rubbed smooth circles on her back while trying not to show her how terrified he really was.

"Someone please tell me you got something with those phones!" Dean yelled over another scream.

"Sorry, Dean." Sam shook his head before trying his phone again.

"Fantastic." Pepper spat sarcastically. She stood up and tilted her head back, looking heavenward and shouted angrily, "I'm going to give birth on the side of a road!"

"Well if anyone has the strength to do it, its you Pepper." John told her, hoping to be comforting.

Pepper glared sharply at him. "Do not patronize me, John Winchester."

John was stunned. Apart from Ellen and Missouri, he could not remember the last time he'd gotten that look and tone from a woman before. Well apart from Mary when she had been in labor. He turned to Dean and noticed that his son looked...almost amused.

"-I-" John began.

"I think we're only 2 hours away from the last town we passed." said Bobby, sensing that John could use some help. "One of us could go and get help and--"

"--What! On their own?" Sam demanded. "You want to go out there with the Demon still around? Bobby are you insane?"

Bobby advanced on Sam until they were standing toe to toe.

"I'm not going to just stand here doing nothing while my granddaughter is in labor, now am I." Bobby snapped at the younger man.

Sam opened his mouth to say something but John cut him off with a quick and forceful, "Enough."

"Look," Bobby continued. "We don't have a lot of options here."

"I don't want anyone to go." Pepper said suddenly. Fresh tears sprung in her eyes.

"Pep," Dean gently began.

"No, Dean. Sammy's right the Demon is still out there. What if one of you go off and then something happens?" Pepper asked.

"Pepper, it could be our only shot." said Bobby. "And if I or John go then we can protect ourselves."

"But you can't guarantee that, Granddad. And none of you have the right to give me anything else to worry about right now."

"I'm sorry, Pepper." Bobby apologized.

Pepper nodded before turning to lean against Dean's side.

"Okay, I-I need to sit down." She announced.

"Bobby, there should be a blanket under the seat, could you..." Dean started and Bobby was opening the car door before he could even finish asking.

Bobby grabbed an old looking blanket from under the passenger seat. The boys kept it there encase they needed to hide something while going through a road checkpoint so it was a bit dirty. Bobby shook it a few times to get most of the dirt and dust from it. John helped Bobby lay the blanket out on the ground at the side of the Impala, on the side facing away from the road so that she was hidden behind the car. After the blanket was straighten, Dean gently guided Pepper over and helped her to sit down.

Pepper leaned her back against the Impala. Dean was right by her side. He hadn't left her since they had found her and Sam, and he had no intentions to do so either. He took a hold of her hand again while peppering her temple with random kisses.

"So, um..." Sam mumbled to John and Bobby. "We're in a bit of trouble. Unless one of you knows how to deliver a baby."

"Well...we've both had kids before." Bobby replied slowly and unsurely.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean you know how to deliver a baby." Sam responded.

Dean rolled his eyes and breathed sharply from his nose when he heard his brother's tone. This was not the time for Sam to pull his smart-ass routine.

Out of nowhere, they heard the distinct sound of a car engine approaching. John looked over at Bobby and then down at Dean and Pepper as they all tensed up. There was no way of knowing who or what was going to be behind the wheel of this car. John gave a quick nod to Bobby and Sam then the three of them moved to grab their weapons from the Impala. Sam tossed a handgun to Dean.

As the lights from the car grew closer, Bobby, Sam and John stood along the road, their guns aimed and at the ready. Meanwhile, Dean crouched down in front of Pepper and placed one hand over her mouth to muffle her cries as he held his gun in the other hand. Dean carefully looked up over the car to the other men. He heard a muffled cry come from Pepper and lowered his head again.

"Sorry," Dean mouthed and pressed his hand against her more tightly.

Pepper closed her eyes and fought against her body's desire to cry out as her contractions hit her.

The car stopped a few feet away from them. The car door flung opened and the driver slowly got out. Everyone's guns immediately aimed towards whoever it was.

"Ellen?" Sam called out, after recognizing the person in the car.

"Sam," Sam sighed in relief. "It's so good to see all of you."

Sam lowered his gun and walked towards Ellen just as she came towards them.

"Ellen, what--" Sam began

"Sam!" Bobby yelled, causing Sam to stop before he actually reached Ellen.

Sam turned to look at him, "What?" he asked.

"You boys got holy water in that trunk right?" Bobby asked.

"Ah, yeah." Sam nodded.

John caught on to what Bobby was thinking and quickly moved back to the car. It would be too simple if Ellen were simply just Ellen and since nothing in their lives was ever simple, the chances of her being a demon were around 80 percent. As John grabbed the bottle of holy water, he tried not to look over at Dean and Pepper. Ellen had yet to notice that they were there and until they were sure that she was not possessed; John wanted to keep it that way.

With the bottle of water in his hand, John approached Sam then held the bottle out to Ellen. She gave him a look of confusion that matched that on Sam's face. Sam was too busy being happy to see Ellen that he hadn't thought of the possibility that she wasn't her.

"John, what's that for?" Ellen asked, indicating the bottle.

"Drink it." Bobby ordered.

Ellen eyed the bottle then looked over at Bobby.

"Bobby, are you serious?" She asked, shaking her head slightly. "Is that really necessary?"

"It's just holy water, shouldn't hurt." said Bobby. "And I'm bettin' you can imagine the kind of day we've all been having."

"Just drink it, Ellen." John replied.

Ellen reached out and finally took the bottle from John. All three men watched as she took two deep gulps. When she was done, she lowered the bottle and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

"There," She said before throwing the bottle to John, who caught it against his chest. "Don't suppose you boys have something stronger?"

Sam smiled and did what he wanted to do since he saw her. He hugged her tightly, while she hugged back. Behind them, John and Bobby relaxed slightly.

"Ellen, what are you doing out here?" John asked her.

Ellen pulled back from Sam and said, "After what happened... I needed to know what was going on. I called a psychic friend of mine. She pointed me in your direction."

"Why come? You know its dangerous." said Bobby.

"I was worried about...Where's Dean and Pepper?" Ellen asked, looking around.

Suddenly Pepper cried out and obviously, Dean had moved his hand because everyone heard her loud and clearly. Ellen looked at the others for a brief moment before running around the side of the Impala. Dean had dropped his gun and was back to sitting at Pepper's side. Ellen took one look at Pepper and instantly knew what was going on.

"Why the hell is Pepper, sitting on an old blanket when she is clearly about to have a baby?" Ellen demanded.

"Ah, none of our phones are working." Sam supply weakly.

"You've got a car. You could drive to a hospital."

"We tried that." John said, shaking his head slightly. "The ride was getting too much for Pepper."

"Oh," Ellen turned back to Pepper, her eyes wide. "Oh, Honey." She knelt down in front of Pepper and placed a hand gently on her forehead. "You doing okay?"

Pepper violently shook her head.

"Alright." Ellen thought for a moment. "Pepper, Hun," She began gently but with an air of firmness. "I'm going to check and see exactly how far along you are. Is that okay?"

"Yes." Pepper nodded.

Ellen gave her a brief smile before she got to work.

"Good to see you, Ellen." Dean breathed in relief. It was good to have someone who was seemed a little calmer about the situation.

"Just your luck too." Ellen replied before moving back from Pepper slightly after checking her. "Now, Pepper, I'm sorry but you're just about fully dilated. We're gonna have to deliver this baby now."

"You sure you know how to deliver a baby, Ellen?" asked Bobby.

"Well, I am a parent." Ellen replied, looking up at Bobby. "So I guess that qualifies me somewhat."

"We're parents' too." said John.

"Yes, but you two aren't mothers." She explained. "You haven't gone through a labor nor have you actually given birth. I have which makes me more qualified then you to. Besides I think it will be less uncomfortable for Pepper this way."

"And for Dean." Dean added. The thought of anyone else there besides himself or Ellen being down...there was just way too creepy to think about.

Ellen laughed at that and turned back to the couple. She sobered up however when she saw Pepper's face contort in pain again.

"I'm afraid this is going to get a lot worse for you, Pepper." Ellen told her.

"Great." Pepper breathed. "Dean Winchester, you are going to owe me so much after this."

Dean nodded, "You can have Sammy, babe." He said while moving and arm around her back so that he could take hold of her other hand. He moved closer to her so that she was half leaning on him, half leaning against the Impala.

"Yeah, sure give me up before you give up your precious Impala." Sam joked.

Pepper laughed but winced a second later.

"Ok, we need to get started." Ellen announced. "Sam, I've got an old police radio in the back of my car. You should be able to get a hold of someone with it. Once you do, tell them we need urgent medical assistance."

Sam nodded and ran to Ellen's car. Bobby turned and followed him to help. While Bobby would rather stay with Pepper, it was hard for him to see her in pain even though he knew that it would be all worth it.

"Now, John, I'm going to need a sharp knife and whatever alcohol you got."

"Why the hell do you need a knife?" Dean asked alarmed.

John was already searching the back of the Impala for the bottle of whisky he knew he'd seen earlier. He didn't know how old the thing was but it was the only alcohol they had so it was going to have to do. Of course, he had no trouble finding a sharp knife as the trunk was full of them.

"It's for the cord, Dean." Ellen replied, easing Dean's worry a little.

John poured a generous amount of whisky over both sides of the knife. Ellen held her hands out to him and John poured what was left of the drink over them. Dean watched them with a frown. He hadn't realized that all of this would be necessary but he trusted Ellen and wouldn't argue what she was doing. Once the bottle was empty, John tossed it into the woods where it smashed against a tree.

"Yes!" Sam yelled excitedly.

Ellen, Dean and John all looked up as Sam came running towards them.

"Bobby's got someone." He said in a rush. "They're sending an ambulance. I mean, it's still going to be a while, hour and a half at the most but they are coming."

"Good job, Sam." Ellen smiled at him. She looked over at Pepper and her expression became very serious. "Right now, Pepper..." She paused as she checked Pepper's progression once again. "The baby's head is crowning so you need to start pushing."

Pepper nodded and Dean gave both of her hands a reassuring squeeze.

"You can do this." He whispered to her.

John, Sam and Bobby all moved closer. Bobby left the radio on but realized that he could not miss this. He wanted to witness his great-grandchild be born. The three of them stood on Pepper's other side from Dean and watched with great amazement.

Ellen got into position with her hands between Pepper's legs. "Okay, now Pepper, I need you to give me a big push." She instructed. "Ready...1. 2. 3. Push!"

Pepper screamed and clutched tightly onto Dean's hands as she pushed. Dean leaned forward, unable to take his eyes away from Ellen's arms even though he couldn't see anything from his position. Time seemed to disappear in those next few minutes and all anyone could focus on was the sound of Ellen instructing Pepper to push.

"Alright, Sweetie. One more big push should do it." said Ellen.

Again, Pepper pushed as hard as she could. A second later, the air was filled with the sound of a newborn baby's cry making everything else in the world melt away. Pepper released her grip on Dean's hands slightly and stared opened-mouth at her new baby.

"We have a girl." Ellen announced happily. She lifted the crying baby up to show her parents.

"Wow," Dean breathed as he stared at his new daughter. His eyes shining with tears of happiness and wonderment.

She was so small. Smaller than Dean would have imagined. On top of her tiny head was the lightest sandy brown hair Dean had ever seen, and her eyes were closed as she screamed so he couldn't see her eyes. And even though she was covered in blood (and other things Dean didn't want to think about), he thought she was the most amazing and beautiful thing in the whole of creation.

Ellen quickly got to work cutting the cord and finishing what she needed to, then she held the baby close to her chest and looked up at John, Bobby and Sam. All three were staring at the new baby agape with tears in there eyes.

"Do we have another blanket?" Ellen asked, rocking the baby slightly against her.

Before any of them could form a response, Dean was moving away from Pepper just enough to take off his leather jacket, all without looking away from his daughter. Once the jacket was off, he held it out for Ellen. Ellen smiled warmly at him before carefully wrapping the baby up in the warmth of her father's jacket. Dean held the baby in his arms; looking down at her while, Ellen did a double check to make sure she was secured. Once she was certain that the jacket was around the baby properly, Ellen let go and leaned back.

Dean shifted the baby slightly in his arms bringing her closer to his chest. Then he leaned down and kissed her tiny nose. Pulling back slightly, he took a deep breath and inhaled her sent. Her cries became softer until she made no noise at all but her eyes remained close, leading Dean to believe that she had fallen asleep. He kissed her forehead before gently (and a little reluctantly) placing her into her mother's arms. Pepper cradled her daughter close to her chest. She still had tears in her eyes from the pain of labor but they were now mixed with tears of overwhelming happiness.

Dean leaned forward and placed one hand on his baby's sandy-brown hair, stroking gently with the tips of his fingers. John and the others seemed to have broken out of their trance and the three of them had all moved closer to Pepper and Dean. Sam knelt down on Pepper's opposite side from Dean and stared down at the baby's head. John and Bobby were standing right behind him and both were still looking at the baby.

"She's gorgeous, Pepper." Bobby said fondly.

"I know," Pepper replied, smiling down at her daughter.

"Yeah," Dean agreed before leaning over to kiss the baby's forehead again. Then he went back to stroking her hair.

The baby opened her eyes and looked up, wide-eyed at her father as he leaned over her. Dean smile grew with so much pride when he saw the same green eyes as his own looking back at him.

"Hi, Sweetheart." He began softly, stroking her hair again. "Daddy loves you."

Dean continued smiling down at his daughter. After several moments, he leaned back and lightly kissed Pepper on the lips murmuring "Thank you" to her.

"She's so tiny." Sam said in amazement.

"I'm going to go check on that ambulance." said Ellen as she slowly stood up. "Congratulations you two."

"Thanks, Ellen." Dean nodded and looked over at her. "For everything."

Ellen smiled warmly down at the new parents and then walked over to her own car. Dean looked back down at his baby and smiled at her.

John watched Dean silently and couldn't help the grin that spread across his face. He knew that it was common for a mother to visibly glow after having a baby, but you never really hear about the father doing the same and yet that was exactly what Dean was doing. Dean was actually glowing with pride, love, and everything else that John had never seen but always hoped his son would feel one day.

"Don't suppose you two ever came up with a name for this little one?" Bobby asked. "Or are we just calling her baby girl for now?"

Dean thought for a moment and then turned to Pepper. "Guess we should have thought of that earlier."

Pepper shrugged ever so slightly, "I already have a name picked out." She said.

"What?" Dean raised a brow. "Since when?"

"Ah, about five months ago." She replied, and bit her lip nervously.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Dean asked.

"I guess I wanted it to be a surprise."

"So, what is it?" asked an eager Sam.

John smiled because he knew what was coming, after all everything else in the dream was pretty close to the new reality even the baby that was now in Pepper's arms looked like the same baby from his dream, though a bit younger. So John had no doubts that she would have the same name as she had in the dream - Ayla Rosetta. That was why John nearly fell over in shock when Pepper replied.

"Mary."

"W-what?" John asked, thinking he had heard her wrong.

"Her name is going to be Mary." said Pepper.

"Really?" Dean asked.

"Yep." Pepper grinned.

Slowly, Dean's face broke out into a huge mega-watt grin. "Well then," He began and looked back down at his daughter. "Welcome to the world, Mary Winchester."

**THE END**

**Stay tuned for the 4th part in the 'Colored Lights' series, titled --- 'Four Men And A Baby'**

**Author's Notes **_**-**__ I know that I was very vague in regards to what actually happens when you give birth, but what can I say I'm lazy lol. I changed the baby's name from 'Ayla' to 'Mary' because in the first story, Mary(the boy's mother) was alive so there was no need to name the baby after her, while in this story she is dead so naming the baby after her honors her memory. Oh and her middle name is going to be good too I promise. Any comments of feedback would be great. Thanks all for reading :-)_


	11. IMPORTANT NOTE

**IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE**

**Hey everyone,**

**I'm sorry to get your hopes up but this is not an update on the story. The sad news is that I will not be continuing my stories here. Because of a certain thing that has happened I no longer have any respect for this site. So what I am going to do is post my stories on my LiveJournal accounts (links are on my profile page.) My account here will remain until I have transferred each story to LiveJournal. After that I will be deleting this account and will no longer be posting here.**

**I am sorry for the inconvenience this causes anyone. If you have any comments, or you want to know more please email me at - shadedcolouredlights(at)y7mail(dot)com**

**This is sad for me but I can't help how I feel. It will probably take me a long time to post all my stories on LJ because I rarely go on the computer any more. I just wanted to let you all know what was going on.**

**Thank you everyone who has favored/alerted me or my stories. Your reviews have always meant a lot to me. I hope that some of you will continue to read my storie on LJ. If you know any other place I can post my stories please let me know.**

**ICantBelieveImNotButter.**


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